HB2736 - 561R

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

Section 1. Section 16-103, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-103. Qualified person temporarily absent from state; persons in the service of the United States

A. A qualified person who is temporarily absent from the this state may register by filling out an affidavit of registration which that shall be furnished upon on request of the registrant by the county recorder of the county in which the registrant has residence pursuant to section 16-593. The registrant shall execute the affidavit of registration and administer the oath himself and shall return the affidavit to the county recorder.

B. The county recorder may accept a federal postcard application in lieu of an affidavit of registration from any qualified person covered under the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act of 1986 (P.L. 99-410; 42 52 United States Code section 1973 sections 20301 through 20311) or a person with a visual impairment.

C. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, registration for any person covered under subsection B of this section may be accomplished at any time prior to before 7:00 p.m. of an election day. This subsection applies only to persons temporarily absent from this state and persons with a visual impairment.

D. A person who was an overseas voter as defined in the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act of 1986 (P.L. 99-410; 42 52 United States Code section 1973 20310), as amended by the Ronald W. Reagan national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2005 (P.L. 108-375), immediately before being domiciled in this state, and who has been discharged or separated from that service or employment in the ninety days before election day or a person with a visual impairment may register and is eligible to vote in that election if the registration is received by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before election day.

E. Any United States citizen who has never resided in the United States and whose parent is a United States citizen who is registered to vote in this state is eligible to register to vote and may vote in this state using a federal write-in early ballot as prescribed by section 16-543.02. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 16-246, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-246. Early balloting; satellite locations; additional procedures

A. Within ninety-three days before the presidential preference election and not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh day preceding the election, any elector who is eligible to vote in the presidential preference election may make a verbal or signed, written request for an official early ballot to the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections for the county in which the elector is registered to vote. If the request is verbal, the requesting elector shall provide the date of birth and birthplace or other information that if compared to the voter registration records for that elector would confirm the identity of the elector.

B. Absent uniformed services voters, or overseas voters or voters with a visual impairment who are otherwise eligible to vote in the election may vote as prescribed by sections 16-543 and 16-543.02.

C. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may establish on-site early voting locations at the office of the county recorder or at other locations in the county deemed necessary or appropriate by the recorder. Early voting shall begin within the time limits prescribed in section 16-542 unless otherwise prescribed by this section.

D. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall send by nonforwardable mail that is marked with the statement required by the postmaster to receive an address correction notification any early ballots that are requested pursuant to subsections A and B of this section and shall include a preaddressed envelope for the elector to return the completed ballot.

E. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall provide to each election board an appropriate alphabetized list of voters who have requested and have been sent an early ballot. Any person who is on that list of voters and who was sent an early ballot shall not vote at the polling place for that election precinct except as prescribed by section 16-579, subsection B.

F. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may provide for any of the following in the same manner prescribed by law for other elections:

1. Special election boards.

2. Emergency balloting for persons who experience an emergency after 5:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the presidential preference election and before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately preceding the presidential preference election. Before receiving a ballot pursuant to this paragraph, a person who experiences an emergency shall provide identification as prescribed in section 16-579 and shall sign a statement under penalty of perjury that states that the person is experiencing or experienced an emergency after 5:00 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the election and before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately preceding the election that would prevent the person from voting at the polls. Signed statements received pursuant to this subsection paragraph are not subject to inspection pursuant to title 39, chapter 1, article 2.

G. Notwithstanding section 16-579, subsection A, paragraph 2, for emergency balloting pursuant to subsection F, paragraph 2 of this section, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may allow a qualified elector to update the elector's voter registration information as provided for in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452.

H. Sections 16-550, 16-551 and 16-552 govern the use of early balloting for the presidential preference election. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 16-542, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-542. Request for ballot; civil penalties; violation; classification

A. Within ninety-three days before any election called pursuant to the laws of this state, an elector may make a verbal or signed request to the county recorder, or other officer in charge of elections for the applicable political subdivision of this state in whose jurisdiction the elector is registered to vote, for an official early ballot. In addition to name and address, the requesting elector shall provide the date of birth and state or country of birth or other information that if compared to the voter registration information on file would confirm the identity of the elector. If the request indicates that the elector needs a primary election ballot and a general election ballot, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall honor the request. For any partisan primary election, if the elector is not registered as a member of a political party that is entitled to continued representation on the ballot pursuant to section 16-804, the elector shall designate the ballot of only one of the political parties that is entitled to continued representation on the ballot and the elector may receive and vote the ballot of only that one political party, which also shall include any nonpartisan offices and ballot questions, or the elector shall designate the ballot for nonpartisan offices and ballot questions only and the elector may receive and vote the ballot that contains only nonpartisan offices and ballot questions. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall process any request for an early ballot for a municipal election pursuant to this subsection. The county recorder may establish on-site early voting locations at the recorder's office, which shall be open and available for use beginning the same day that a county begins to send out the early ballots. The county recorder may also establish any other early voting locations in the county the recorder deems necessary. Any on-site early voting location or other early voting location shall require each elector to present identification as prescribed in section 16-579 before receiving a ballot. Notwithstanding section 16-579, subsection A, paragraph 2, at any on-site early voting location or other early voting location the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may provide for a qualified elector to update the elector's voter registration information as provided for in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452.

B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a request for an official early ballot from an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter as defined in the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act of 1986 (P.L. 99-410; 52 United States Code section 20310), a voter with a visual impairment or a voter whose information is protected pursuant to section 16-153 that is received by the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections more than ninety-three days before the election is valid. If requested by the absent uniformed services or overseas voter, a voter with a visual impairment or a voter whose information is protected pursuant to section 16-153, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall provide to the requesting voter early ballot materials through the next regularly scheduled general election for federal office immediately following receipt of the request unless a different period of time, which does not exceed the next two regularly scheduled general elections for federal office, is designated by the voter.

C. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall mail the early ballot and the envelope for its return postage prepaid to the address provided by the requesting elector within five days after receipt of the official early ballots from the officer charged by law with the duty of preparing ballots pursuant to section 16-545, except that early ballot distribution shall not begin more than twenty-seven days before the election. If an early ballot request is received on or before the thirty-first day before the election, the early ballot shall be distributed not earlier than the twenty-seventh day before the election and not later than the twenty-fourth day before the election.

D. Only the elector may be in possession of that elector's unvoted early ballot. If a complete and correct request is made by the elector within twenty-seven days before the election, the mailing must be made within forty-eight hours after receipt of the request. Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays are excluded from the computation of the forty-eight hour forty-eight-hour period prescribed by this subsection. If a complete and correct request is made by an absent uniformed services voter, or an overseas voter or a voter with a visual impairment before the election, the regular early ballot shall be transmitted by mail, by fax or by other electronic format approved by the secretary of state within twenty-four hours after the early ballots are delivered pursuant to section 16-545, subsection B, excluding Sundays.

E. In order to be complete and correct and to receive an early ballot by mail, an elector's request that an early ballot be mailed to the elector's residence or temporary address must include all of the information prescribed by subsection A of this section and must be received by the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections no not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh day preceding the election. An elector who appears personally no not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the election at an on-site early voting location that is established by the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall be given a ballot after presenting identification as prescribed in section 16-579 and shall be permitted allowed to vote at the on-site location. Notwithstanding section 16-579, subsection A, paragraph 2, at any on-site early voting location the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may provide for a qualified elector to update the elector's voter registration information as provided for in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452. If an elector's request to receive an early ballot is not complete and correct but complies with all other requirements of this section, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall attempt to notify the elector of the deficiency of the request.

F. Unless an elector specifies that the address to which an early ballot is to be sent is a temporary address, the recorder may use the information from an early ballot request form to update voter registration records.

G. The county recorder or other officer in charge of early balloting shall provide an alphabetized list of all voters in the precinct who have requested and have been sent an early ballot to the election board of the precinct in which the voter is registered not later than the day before the election.

H. As a result of experiencing an emergency between 5:00 p.m. on the Friday preceding the election and 5:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding the election, qualified electors may request to vote in the manner prescribed by the board of supervisors of their respective county. Before voting pursuant to this subsection, an elector who experiences an emergency shall provide identification as prescribed in section 16-579 and shall sign a statement under penalty of perjury that states that the person is experiencing or experienced an emergency after 5:00 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the election and before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately preceding the election that would prevent the person from voting at the polls. Signed statements received pursuant to this subsection are not subject to inspection pursuant to title 39, chapter 1, article 2. For the purposes of this subsection, "emergency" means any unforeseen circumstances that would prevent the elector from voting at the polls.

I. Notwithstanding section 16-579, subsection A, paragraph 2, for any voting pursuant to subsection H of this section, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may allow a qualified elector to update the elector's voter registration information as provided for in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452.

J. A candidate, political committee or other organization may distribute early ballot request forms to voters. If the early ballot request forms include a printed address for return, the addressee shall be the political subdivision that will conduct the election. Failure to use the political subdivision as the return addressee is punishable by a civil penalty of up to three times the cost of the production and distribution of the request.

K. All original and completed early ballot request forms that are received by a candidate, political committee or other organization shall be submitted within six business days after receipt by a candidate, political committee or other organization or eleven days before the election day, whichever is earlier, to the political subdivision that will conduct the election. Any person, political committee or other organization that fails to submit a completed early ballot request form within the prescribed time is subject to a civil penalty of up to $25 per day for each completed form withheld from submittal. Any person who knowingly fails to submit a completed early ballot request form before the submission deadline for the election immediately following the completion of the form is guilty of a class 6 felony.

L. Except for a voter who is on the active early voting list prescribed by section 16-544, a voter who requests a onetime early ballot pursuant to this section 16-542 or for an election conducted pursuant to section 16-409 or article 8.1 of this chapter, a county recorder, city or town clerk or other election officer may not deliver or mail an early ballot to a person who has not requested an early ballot for that election. An election officer who knowingly violates this subsection is guilty of a class 5 felony. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 16-543, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-543. Application for ballot; United States service; emergency procedures

A. Any absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter as defined in the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act of 1986 (P.L. 99-410; 42 52 United States Code section 1973ff-6 20310), as amended by the Ronald W. Reagan national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2005 (P.L. 108-375), or a voter with a visual IMPAIRMENT may request an early ballot with a federal postcard application that contains both an early voter registration application and an early ballot application. The secretary of state shall provide for a centralized system for receiving federal postcard applications by way of the internet or fax and shall provide for transmitting appropriate ballot materials in response to fax, telephone and internet requests for federal postcard applications. The absent uniformed services voter, or overseas voter or voter with a visual IMPAIRMENT shall designate the means of communication for receiving voting materials, whether by way of the internet, fax transmittal or other electronic means or by mail, and the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall provide responses and materials in the format designated by the requesting voter. On receipt of such the application, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall determine whether or not the elector is registered. If the applicant is so registered, the recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall forward to the applicant an official early ballot using the means of communication designated by the voter pursuant to this section. If no means of communication is designated, the ballot shall be transmitted as provided in the instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to section 16-452. For all requests received from registered absent uniformed services voters, or overseas voters or voters with a visual IMPAIRMENT on or before the forty-eighth day before the election, the ballot shall be transmitted no not later than the forty-fifth day before the election. If the applicant is not registered, and the request is for a ballot for use in a county election but the federal postcard application is complete, the recorder shall forward an official early ballot to the applicant within twenty-four hours after receipt of the request, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays. If the applicant is not registered to vote and the federal postcard application is not used or complete, the recorder shall forward an affidavit of registration as provided in section 16-103 and shall forward at the same time to the unregistered applicant an official early ballot and affidavit within twenty-four hours after receipt of the request, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays. For any voter who is sent an official early ballot by electronic means pursuant to this section, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections is not required to send a paper ballot for the same election.

B. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall transmit by fax or by other electronic format approved by the secretary of state early ballot request forms, unvoted ballots and ballot information to eligible absent uniformed services voters, and overseas voters and voters with a visual impairment. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall provide for receipt of completed early ballot requests and voted early ballots by fax or other electronic format as prescribed by the secretary of state in the instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to section 16-452. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall provide for a method for the voter to verify at no cost to the voter that the voter's ballot has been received.

C. The secretary of state shall provide in the instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to section 16-452 for emergency procedures regarding the early balloting process for persons who are subject to the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act of 1986 (P.L. 99-410; 42 52 United States Code section 1973ff sections 20301 through 20311), as amended by the Ronald W. Reagan national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2005 (P.L. 108-375), or voters with a visual impairment. These emergency procedures may be implemented only on the occurrence of a national or local emergency that makes substantial compliance with the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act impracticable, including occurrences of natural disasters or armed conflict or mobilization of the national guard or military reserve units of this state.

D. This section applies only to any absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter as defined in the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act of 1986 (P.L. 99-410; 42 52 United States Code section 1973ff-6 20310), as amended by the Ronald W. Reagan national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2005 (P.L. 108-375), and any voter with a visual impairment. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Section 16-543.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-543.02. Federal write-in early ballots; procedure; registration form

A. An overseas voter as defined in the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act of 1986 (P.L. 99-410; 42 52 United States Code section 1973ff-6 20310), as amended by the Ronald W. Reagan national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2005 (P.L. 108-375), who is absent from the place of residence in this state where the voter is otherwise qualified to vote or a voter with a visual impairment may use a federal write-in early ballot in a primary, general or special election for the offices of presidential elector and United States senator and representative in Congress if the voter applies for an early ballot by 7:00 p.m. on election day and does not receive that early ballot.

B. A federal write-in early ballot of an overseas voter or a voter with a visual impairment shall not be counted if either of the following conditions is met:

1. The application of the overseas voter or voter with a visual impairment for an early ballot is received by the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections after 7:00 p.m. on election day.

2. An early ballot from the overseas voter or voter with a visual impairment is received by the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections by 7:00 p.m. on election day.

C. An overseas voter or voter with a visual impairment who completes a federal write-in early ballot may designate a candidate by writing in the name of the candidate or by writing in the name of a political party, in which case the ballot shall be counted for the candidate of that political party. In the case of the offices of president and vice-president vice president, a vote for a named candidate or in the name of the political party shall be counted as a vote for that candidate's or party's presidential electors. Any abbreviation, misspelling or other minor variation in the form of the name of a candidate or political party shall be disregarded in determining the validity of the ballot if the intention of the voter can be ascertained.

D. For an overseas voter or voter with a visual impairment who completes a federal write-in early ballot transmission envelope with the federal write-in early ballot request, the transmission envelope shall serve as a voter registration form and the voter is registered to vote on completion and receipt of the transmission envelope and the federal write-in early ballot if all of the following apply:

1. The information submitted on the transmission envelope includes the information prescribed in section 16-121.01.

2. The voter is otherwise eligible to register and vote in this state.

3. The request is received by the county recorder by 7:00 p.m. on election day.

E. For any request received after 7:00 p.m. on election day, an otherwise valid transmission envelope constitutes a voter registration form that is valid for any subsequent election. END_STATUTE