REFERENCE TITLE: early ballots; address; return

 

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

2021

 

 

HB 2529

 

Introduced by

Representative Dunn

 

 

AN ACT

 

amending section 16-545, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to early voting.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1.  Section 16-545, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-545.  Early ballot

A.  The early ballot shall be one prepared for use in the precinct in which the applicant resides and, if a partisan primary election, of the political party with which the applicant is affiliated as shown by the affidavit of registration.  The ballot shall be identical with the regular official ballots, except that it shall have printed or stamped on it "early".

B.  The officer charged by law with the duty of preparing ballots at any election shall:

1.  Prepare the official early ballot and deliver a sufficient number to the recorder or other officer in charge of elections not later than the thirty-third day before the election.  Except as provided in section 16‑542, subsection D, regular early ballots shall not be distributed to the general public before the beginning of early voting.

2.  Ensure that the ballot return envelopes are of a type that does not reveal the voter's selections and that is tamper evident when properly sealed. The envelope

3.  Ensure that If the named RECIPIENT on the envelope that CONTAINS the unvoted early ballot does not reside at the address used for the early ballot, the early ballot envelope shall state that the person who receives the envelope in error shall mark the outside of the unopened envelope "return to sender" and shall place the UNOPENED envelope in the United States mail.END_STATUTE