Absentee Ballot by mail

Absentee Ballot by mail. (a) When a registrar mails an absentee ballot to an absent voter, SEMS will be used to document the request and issuance of the ballot. In the process of providing an absentee ballot, the registrar will use SEMS to produce pollbooks, or mark directly on the pollbook, to indicate the absent voter has been mailed an absentee ballot or absentee ballot has been received by the registrar by printing “VOTED AB” in the pollbook beside the voter’s name in the Election Date/Write Voted column. If an absent elector appears at the polling place on election day, after having been mailed an absentee ballot or returned an absentee ballot and seeks to cast a regular ballot, the voter must be informed that he/she is not entitled to cast a regular ballot, but the voter may cast an affidavit ballot. The absentee ballot, upon receipt by the registrar, processed as received in SEMS and deposited into a secure ballot box, shall be final, if accepted by the Resolution Board. (b) In canvassing the election, the officials in charge of the election shall check the Absentee Ballot Received Report (BP-001 from SEMS) and SEMS to see whether an absentee ballot was received by the registrar, and also check to see whether the Resolution Board accepted the absentee ballot. If the absent voter’s absentee ballot has been received within five (5) business days of the election and accepted by the Resolution Board, the officials in charge of the election shall reject the absent voter’s affidavit ballot. If the absent voter’s absentee ballot has not been received within five (5) business days after the election, or was rejected by the Resolution Board, the officials in charge of the election may accept the affidavit ballot if determined to be legal.