Relating to the conduct of elections

This bill relates to the conduct of elections. The bill strikes a provision canceling a voter’s voter registration if the voter has been marked inactive and not voted in two consecutive general elections. and adds documents to the list of documents that may be used by a voter to establish the voter’s identity when casting a ballot. The bill changes the first day on which absentee ballots may be cast from days before an election to days before an election. The bill allows an absentee voter to designate any person to return an absentee ballot on behalf of the voter so long as the voter requires the person to leave a receipt with the voter. The bill strikes various provisions relating to a delivery agent for a voter’s absentee ballot, including the limit on the number of ballots returned, the requirement to deliver in person, and the requirement to sign a statement under penalty of perjury. The bill does not strike the prohibition on a candidate returning an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter. The bill allows a county commissioner of elections to establish absentee voting stations without first receiving a petition and requires a county commissioner of elections to establish an absentee voting station on the Saturday before an election at a public building where members of the public commonly gather. The bill also allows a county commissioner of elections to establish any number of absentee ballot drop boxes, except that a county commissioner of elections in a county with a population of at least 25,000 must establish at least one absentee ballot drop box per 25,000 people. The bill changes the deadline by which an absentee ballot must be received in the office of the county commissioner of elections from the time the polls close on election day to noon on the Monday following the election, provided that an absentee ballot received after the time the polls close bears a postal service barcode traced to a date of entry into the federal mail system not later than the day before the election. The bill requires the governor to immediately restore the rights to vote and hold office to a person who forfeited those rights by conviction of an infamous crime, except for a violation of Code chapter 707 (homicide and related crimes), and who has discharged the person’s sentence for all infamous crimes of which the person was convicted. A person has discharged a person’s sentence upon completion of any term of confinement, parole, probation, or other supervised release and the completion of any special sentence imposed pursuant to Code chapter 903B (sex offender special sentencing and hormone treatment). The bill does not prohibit a person from submitting an application for the restoration of citizenship rights.