Chapter 267
2012 -- S 2335 AS AMENDED
Enacted 06/18/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
ELECTIONS - MAIL BALLOTS
Introduced By: Senators Pichardo, Tassoni, Felag, DiPalma, and P Fogarty
Date Introduced: February 07, 2012
It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 17-20-6.1 of the General Laws in Chapter
17-20 entitled "Mail
Ballots" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
17-20-6.1.
Alternative methods of voting by citizens covered by the Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and
other citizens residing outside the
designed to facilitate the federal mandate of the Uniformed
and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act (UOCAVA), 42 U.S.C.
section 1973ff et seq.
(b) The Federal Post
Card Application (FPCA) may be used as a request for an absentee
ballot by:
(1) A member of the
armed forces who is absent from the state by reason of being in
active service;
(2) Any person absent
from the state in performance of "services intimately connected
with military operations" as defined in section
17-20-3(d);
(3) Any person who is
employed outside of the
20-3(c); and
(4) Any person who does
not qualify under subparagraph (1), (2), or (3) above, but who
is a citizen of the
described in chapter 21.1 of title 17.
(c) The single FPCA
card shall permit the person to request an absentee ballot for each
primary and election through the next general elections
for federal office or for the time period
specified by federal law
through the next two (2) regularly scheduled general elections for federal
office in which the voter is eligible to vote.
(d) The FPCA card must
be received by the local board of canvassers where the person
last maintains his/her residence for voting purposes
within the time frame for applying for
absentee ballots as set forth in this title.
(e) If the FPCA, when
used in accordance with this section, is sent by the voter through
electronic transmission, it must be sent to the secretary of
state and it must be received by the
secretary of state by the deadline for applying for absentee
ballots as set forth in this title. The
secretary of state shall then forward the FPCA to the
appropriate local authority who shall
immediately certify and return the FPCA to the secretary of state
with the notation that the
corresponding ballots shall be sent by mail and electronic
transmission. The secretary of state
shall transmit ballots only to the facsimile number
provided by the Federal Voter Assistance
Program. The ballots sent by electronic transmission shall be
returned to the state board by
electronic transmission. These ballots will be counted at the
state board in accordance with rules
and regulations promulgated by the state board.
(f) The voter's
signature on the FPCA does not need to be witnessed or notarized, when
the FPCA is submitted as provided in this section.
(g) If a voter is
casting a mail ballot received through the use of the FPCA card as
provided in this section, the voter's signature does not need
to be witnessed or notarized on the
certifying envelope used for the return of the voted mail
ballot.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01044
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