the county clerk by United States mail or by depositing the ballot at the office of the county clerk, at You can also mail your ballot back. It depends on your state. The law of the District of Columbia states that a voter can obtain an emergency absentee ballot due to illness, accident, or serving on a sequestered jury on Election Day, and that a designated agenteither a registered voter of their choosing or an officer of the court, in case of jury dutymay deliver the voted ballot. By Associated Press | Oct. 17, 2022, at 12:41 p.m. According to the law, "The voter may designate an agent to deliver in person the sealed absentee ballot return envelope to the county auditor or municipal clerk or to deposit the return envelope in the mail. (7) When providing an absentee ballot to a designated bearer or receiving an absentee ballot from a designated bearer, the county clerk shall provide to the designated bearer a written notice informing the designated bearer that: The law states, "Upon receipt of the vote by mail ballot, the admitted voter shall mark the ballot in secret and subscribe to the certifications on the vote by mail ballot return envelope. Election security experts say that voter fraud is rare among all forms of voting, including by mail and at drop boxes. Those who support restricting who may return mail ballots often refer to the practice of campaign and union workers returning ballots as ballot harvesting. The purpose of this Article is to establish guidelines for security measures and procedures if a county elections official establishes one or more vote-by-mail ballot drop-off locations or vote-by-mail ballot drop boxes. But in most cases in Pennsylvania, so-called ballot harvesting is illegal. Am I Allowed to Drop off a Ballot for Someone Else? In most states, you can drop off a ballot for someone else but there might be restrictions. Mail it back using the pre-addressed, postage paid envelope included with your ballot packet. a tally from the National Conference of State Legislatures, when a Republican political operative and his staff illegally gathered ballots, legally dropping off ballots of family members, Chicago Mayor Lightfoot ousted; Vallas, Johnson in runoff, King asks Duke and Duchess of Sussex to move out of Frogmore so Prince Andrew can move in, Biden Mocks Marjorie Taylor Greene With 1 Simple Hand Gesture, A Nebraska high-school cheerleader competed on her own after the rest of her squad quit. (6) When an authorized agent delivers an absentee ballot to the county clerk, the: WHYY's Billy Penn has a map of drop boxes in Philly . Approximately 22,000 Lehigh County voters used mail . The authorization must be preserved as part of the record of the election, and the board of voter registration and elections must note the authorization and the name of the authorized returnee in the record book required by Section 7-15-330. Unless the person possessed the ballot or carrier envelope with intent to defraud the voter or the election authority, this subsection does not apply to a person who, on the date of the offense, was: (1) related to the voter within the second degree by affinity or the third degree by consanguinity, as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Government Code; (2) physically living in the same dwelling as the voter; (3) an early voting clerk or a deputy early voting clerk; (4) a person who possesses a ballot or carrier envelope solely for the purpose of lawfully assisting a voter who was eligible for assistance under Section 86.010 and complied fully with: (B) Section 86.0051, if assistance was provided in order to deposit the envelope in the mail or with a common or contract carrier; (5) an employee of the United States Postal Service working in the normal course of the employee's authorized duties; or. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. (B) An authorized agent receiving an absentee ballot from a voter shall deliver the absentee ballot directly to the county clerk. A voter is eligible to receive assistance in marking the ballot, as provided by this subchapter, if the voter cannot prepare the ballot because of: (1) a physical disability that renders the voter unable to write or see; or. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. It must be . I UNDERSTAND THAT IF I PROVIDE FALSE INFORMATION ON THIS FORM, I MAY BE GUILTY OF PERJURY AND SUBJECT TO A FINE OF UP TO TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS ($10,000) OR IMPRISONMENT FOR UP TO TEN (10) YEARS, OR BOTH, UNDER FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS.". The law states the following: "Any elector applying to cast a vote-by-mail ballot in the office of the supervisor, in any election, who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write may request the assistance of some person of his or her own choice, other than the electors employer, an agent of the employer, or an officer or agent of his or her union, in casting his or her vote-by-mail ballot. (2) At no time shall an authorized agent have more than two (2) absentee ballots in his or her possession. ', Greece's worst-ever rail crash kills dozens, crushes cars, End to extra COVID food aid affects more than a million Massachusetts residents, Two people dead, one injured in Dundalk house fire. You can track your absentee ballot using our absentee ballot look-up tool at the link here. As used in this section, immediate family means a dependent relative who resides in the individual's household or any spouse, child or parent of the individual. paragraph (b) of this subsection not later than two ], 3. Monday, October 24, 2022: Last day to register to vote. (e)(1)A person designated to return a vote by mail ballot shall not receive any form of compensation based on the number of ballots that the person returns and an individual, group, or organization shall not provide compensation on this basis. In Colorado, vote-by-mail ballots can be delivered on a voter's behalf by any person they choose. (2)For purposes of this paragraph, compensation means any form of monetary payment, goods, services, benefits, promises or offers of employment, or any other form of consideration offered to another person in exchange for returning another voter's vote by mail ballot. State laws vary in the details and exact application of their restrictions. "A qualified voter with a disability who, because of that disability, is unable to go to a polling place to vote may vote a special needs ballot. Am I allowed to drop off a ballot for someone else? (D) The county clerk shall not accept an absentee ballot from an authorized agent who does not sign the register under oath. (c) The person designated as agent shall, by signed affidavit on a form prescribed by the Board, state the following: (1) That the ballot will be delivered by the voter who submitted the application for the ballot; and. In California, voters can choose someone else to drop off their ballot as long as that person isn't paid by the ballot to do so, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Election security experts say that voter fraud is rare among all forms of voting, including by mail and at drop boxes. In most states, you can drop off a ballot for someone else, with restrictions. But the film showed no evidence that the individuals it showed on surveillance tapes were part of a ballot scheme, and a state investigation found that at least one person featured in the film was legally dropping off ballots of family members. (e) Carrier envelopes may not be collected and stored at another location for subsequent delivery to the early voting clerk. In total, more than half of states have laws that explicitly allow a third party to return a completed ballot, according to a tally from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Political groups and campaigns from both parties have run ballot-collection programs with the goal of boosting turnout and helping older, homebound, disabled or rural voters get their ballots returned. (2) A candidate for office at such election and any person serving on a campaign committee for such a candidate shall not act as an agent for any registered voter requesting a ballot pursuant to this section unless such person is a member of the registered voter's family. Dropboxes are set up by your county and are a safe, secure, and convenient way to return your mail-in ballot. Heres how to double check your registration status before you head to the polls. (c) If the voter is a resident of a residential care facility licensed pursuant to RSA 151:2, I(e) and described in RSA 151:9, VII(a)(1) and (2), the residential care facility administrator, or a residential care facility staff member designated in writing by the administrator to deliver ballots; or It says the following: "The elector shall mail the identification envelope to the director from whom it was received in the return envelope, postage prepaid, or the elector may personally deliver it to the director, or the spouse of the elector, the father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, or sister of the whole or half blood, or the son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the elector may deliver it to the director.". You can check your voter registration status online.You can also contact your county's election and voter registration officials, or call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772). You can also drop off or mail your completed application to: Elections Department. That election was overturned. A family member or another person may also return the ballot on behalf of the voter. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person may not knowingly collect a voter's voted or unvoted ballot. In Texas, a household member, relative (defined by the law) or person lawfully assisting a voter eligible for assistance due to disability or inability to read the ballot may return their mail ballot. district, as the case may be, shall send to the absent voter by mail, at the expense of The oath set forth in Section 7-15-380 must be signed and witnessed on each returned envelope.[3]. But the film showed no evidence that the individuals it showed on surveillance tapes were part of a ballot scheme, and a state investigation found that at least one person featured in the film was legally dropping off ballots of family members. Other states, like California, allow for a ballot to submitted by anyone chosen by the voter as long as they are not paid per ballot they collect. the ballot to the applicant or the applicant's agent, which agent may not, at that time, county clerk, at the designated place of deposit or WESA Voter Guide How to vote by mail and return your mail . Drop boxes are frequently placed intentionally in public, high-traffic spaces. The written requirement is waived for voters with a disability preventing them from writing. (a) Any person who, with the intent to commit fraud, obtains, removes, or disseminates an absent voters ballot, intimidates an absent voter, or completes or alters an absent voters ballot, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $10,000 nor more than $20,000, imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned. An absent voter ballot received by the clerk or assistant of the clerk after the close of the polls on election day will not be counted. [1], Vermont law does not specify whether someone may return mail ballots on behalf of voters.[1]. (b) If a voter is assisted by election officers in the general election for state and county officers, each officer must be aligned with a different political party unless there are not two or more election officers serving the polling place who are aligned with different parties. More than half of states have laws that explicitly allow a third party to return a voted ballot. MILWAUKEE, WI - Residents drop mail-in ballots in an official ballot box outside of the Tippecanoe branch library. (4) For a person other than those listed in these instructions to return, offer to return, agree to return, or solicit to return an absent voter ballot to the clerk. Laws allowing ballot collection are designed to make voting more convenient, and to make it possible for people who cant travel to deliver a ballot on their own. Upon receipt of an application for an official ballot properly filled out and duly signed, (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), on a voter's request for assistance in marking the ballot, two election officers shall provide the assistance. The . In most states, the answer is yes but there might be restrictions. The AP is answering your questions about elections in this series. An elector who is confined to a hospital on a primary or election day to whom an absentee ballot is delivered by the registrar or absentee ballot clerk shall then and there vote the ballot, seal it properly, and return it to the registrar or absentee ballot clerk. In New Jersey, an authorized messenger may return mail-in ballots for a voter. [12], On June 22, Vebber sent a letter to the election commission stating, "I am writing to you regarding the Absentee Ballot Return Options Memo you sent to municipal clerks dated March 31, 2020. (A) Authorized agent shall show some form of current photographic identification to the clerk; Other states dont have laws on ballot collection at all. The deadline for your application to be received is November 1st by 5 p.m.. One state specifies that only the voter may return their mail ballot. I HAVE COMPLIED WITH THE ARKANSAS LAW. How Vote By Mail Works in Pennsylvania. For example, some states only allow caregivers, family members or household members to drop off your ballot for you. Other states dont have laws on ballot collection at all. [3], New York law does not specify whether someone may return mail ballots on behalf of voters.[1]. (b)An agent of the voter under this section: (2)may not be a candidate on that ballot; (3)shall be designated in a writing signed by the voter under penalty of perjury; and. ", Mississippi law does not specify whether someone may return absentee ballots on voters' behalf.[1]. It establishes the collection of early ballots by anyone outside those groups as a class 6 felony. Submit them at: FactCheck@AP.org. If the voter authorized a person to deliver the ballot to the election authority, the voter and the person authorized to deliver the ballot shall complete the authorization printed on the exterior envelope supplied by an election authority for the return of the vote by mail ballot.[3]. Drop boxes are frequently placed intentionally in public, high-traffic spaces. (B) Absentee ballots may be delivered to the county clerk in person by the administrator or by mail. receive compensation, including money, goods, or services, for acting as an agent for C. To a 3rd person who already has been issued 5 absentee ballots for voters in the municipality, until the 3rd person has returned one of those ballots; or [2011, c. 399, 23 (NEW).] at any location described in ORS 254.472 or 254.474 State law provides crime classifications for different types of violations. Illinois law states the voter must do the following after sealing their absentee ballot in the return envelope: The voter shall then endorse his certificate upon the back of the envelope and the envelope shall be mailed in person by such voter, postage prepaid, to the election authority issuing the ballot or, if more convenient, it may be delivered in person, by either the voter or by any person authorized by the voter, or by a company licensed as a motor carrier of property by the Illinois Commerce Commission under the Illinois Commercial Transportation Law, which is engaged in the business of making deliveries. 10 ILCS 5/19-13. For example, some states only allow caregivers, family members or household members to drop off your . (2) Physical disability; After the 2020 election, a discredited film claimed without evidence that a multistate network of Democrat-aligned ballot mules were paid to illegally collect and drop off ballots in five states. Indiana. (3)A person in charge of a vote by mail ballot and who knowingly and willingly engages in criminal acts related to that ballot as described in Division 18 (commencing with Section 18000 ), including, but not limited to, fraud, bribery, intimidation, and tampering with or failing to deliver the ballot in a timely fashion, is subject to the appropriate punishment specified in that division.[3]. 5) Sending your ballot back too late. Purpose. Tuesday, November 1, 2022: Last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot. The authorized representative shall deliver the absentee ballot to the elector and return the completed absentee ballot, sealed in the official absentee ballot envelopes, to the county board of elections, who shall distribute the ballot, unopened, to the absentee voter's election district. Election Day is six weeks away, and mail-in ballots are already arriving for Pennsylvania voters. a. Depositing it in a United States postal mailbox, thereby mailing it to the Department; or A violation could land you a misdemeanor with up to a year in jail or as much as a $1,000 fine. A. (A) An administrator may deliver the absentee ballot to the county clerk for any voter who names the administrator on his or her application and voter statement. The provisions of this Article do not apply to polling places. The agent shall Your ballot is cast once it drops into the ballot box. In most states, the answer is yes but there might be restrictions. Subsection (c) of section 91B reads as follows: "(c) To a voter who states, under penalty of perjury, that he has been admitted to a health care facility, as defined in section twenty-five B of chapter one hundred and eleven after noon of the fifth day before the relevant election, the ballot and accompanying papers shall, unless the clerk determines that there is insufficient time, be delivered in the same manner as provided in subsection (b); provided, however, that if permitted in the sole discretion of the city or town clerk, a person designated in writing by the voter and who is not a candidate for an office at the election, may instead perform the functions of an election official. ", On May 6, 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed SB90 into law, establishing that "any person who distributes, orders, requests, collects, delivers, or otherwise physically possesses more than two vote-by-mail ballots per election in addition to his or her own ballot or a ballot belonging to an immediate family member, except as provided in ss. The film also pointed to cellphone geolocation data, which experts say is not precise enough to identify whether someone used a drop box or simply traveled near it. (c) The voter is serving on a sequestered jury on Election Day. relative or the voter's verifiable legal guardian.". Arizona permits a family member, household member, or caregiver to return a voter's absentee ballot. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; Communications: Alison Graves Carley Allensworth Abigail Campbell Sarah Groat Caitlin Vanden Boom Massachusetts law permits a family member to return an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Return absentee ballots in his or her possession latest news and advice COVID-19. The voter is serving on a voter 's verifiable legal guardian. `` your county and are a,. Else but there might be restrictions laws that explicitly allow a third party to return a voter behalf... Collection at all ballots can be delivered on a sequestered jury on election day is six weeks away, convenient. 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