ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 232

(By Senators Deem, Ross, Snyder and Caldwell)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported January 22, 2002.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article three, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to reducing the time period in which persons may vote a regular absentee ballot.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article three, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. VOTING BY ABSENTEES.
§3-3-3. Voting an absentee ballot in person.
(a) Regular absentee voting in person is to be conducted during regular business hours beginning on the fifteenth day before the election and continuing through one p.m. the Monday before the election for any election held on a Tuesday, or continuing through one p.m. the day before the election for any election held on another day. For any election held on a Tuesday, regular absentee voting in person is to be available from nine a. m. to five p. m. on the Saturday before the election.
(b) Special absentee voting in person for persons eligible to vote an absentee ballot under the provisions of subsection (c), section one of this article is to be conducted during regular business hours in the office of the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting beginning on the forty-second day before the election and continuing until the first day when regular absentee voting in person begins. Any person seeking to vote absentee under this subsection is to first give an affidavit, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, stating under oath the specific circumstances which prevent voting absentee during the period for regular absentee voting in person or by mail.
(c) Upon oral request, the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall provide the voter with the appropriate application for voting absentee in person, as provided in this article. The voter shall complete and sign the application in his or her own handwriting or, if the voter is unable to complete the application because of illiteracy or physical disability, the person assisting the voter and witnessing the mark of the voter shall sign his or her name in the space provided.
(d) Upon completion, the application is to be immediately returned to the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting who shall determine:
(1) Whether the application has been completed as required by law;
(2) Whether the applicant is duly registered to vote in the precinct of his or her residence and, in a primary election, is qualified to vote the ballot of the political party requested; and
(3) Whether the applicant is authorized for the reasons given in the application to vote an absentee ballot by personal appearance during the special absentee voting period at the time of the application.
(e) If the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting determines the conditions provided in subsection (d) of this section have not been met, or has evidence that any of the information contained in the application is not true, the clerk shall challenge the voter's absentee ballot as provided in this article.
(f) The official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall provide each person voting an absentee ballot in person the following items to be printed as prescribed by the secretary of state:
(1) One of each type of official absentee ballot the voter is eligible to vote, prepared according to law;
(2) For all punch card and paper ballot voting and for optical scan ballots voted after election supplies are delivered to the election supply commissioner, one envelope, unsealed, which may have no marks except the designation "Absent Voter's Ballot Envelope No. 1" and printed instructions to the voter;
(3) For all punch card and paper ballot voting and for optical scan ballots voted after election supplies are delivered to the election supply commissioner, one envelope, unsealed, designated "Absent Voter's Ballot Envelope No. 2"; and
(4) For optical scan voting systems, ballots, a secrecy sleeve and access to a ballot box secured by two locks with keys kept by the president of the county commission and the county clerk.
(g) The voter shall enter the voting booth alone and there mark the ballot: Provided, That the voter may have assistance in voting according to the provisions of section four of this article. After the voter has voted the ballot or ballots, the punch card and paper absentee voter shall: (1) Place the ballot or ballots in envelope No. 1 and seal that envelope; (2) place the sealed envelope No. 1 in envelope No. 2 and seal that envelope; (3) complete and sign the forms on envelope No. 2; and (4) return that envelope to the official designated to supervise and conduct the absentee voting.
(h) Upon receipt of the sealed envelope, the official designated to supervise and conduct the absentee voting shall:
(1) Enter onto the envelope any other required information; (2) Enter the challenge, if any, to the ballot;

(3) Enter the required information into the permanent record of persons applying for and voting an absentee ballot in person; and
(4) Place the sealed envelope in a secure location in the official's office, to remain until delivered to the polling place or, in the case of a challenged ballot, to the board of canvassers.