·     Contact Facility Management:  Facility staff as well as election officials should never urge a voter to obtain assistance with the marking of his or her ballot.  Let the facility management know that you and your staff are available to provide assistance if requested by the voter.  Note that such assistance, if requested, will be provided by two individuals representing different political parties.  Encourage facility management to advise voters who request assistance that this service is available.  As an alternative, suggest that the assistance be provided by a member of the voter's immediate family if possible.   

·     Role of Facility Employees:  In many facility settings, the U.S. Postal Service delivers mail to a central point in the facility.  Where such arrangements have been made, facility staff are often responsible for delivering the mail to facility residents.  It is also not uncommon for facility staff to collect outgoing mail from the residents for pick up by the U.S. Postal Service.

·    Signature Verification Required:  In all cases, the absentee ballot application, as well as the outside of the return envelope, must be signed by the voter.  A comparison of the voter's signature on the absentee ballot application must be made against the Master Card or digitized signature in the QVF before a ballot may be issued.  A comparison of the voter's signature on the outside of the return envelope must also be made before the return envelope can be opened on Election Day for processing. 

·     Voters Unable to Sign:  Voters who are unable to sign their name due to a physical condition may sign an application or return envelope using an "X" or other mark.  It should be further noted that family members or others who claim to have "power-of-attorney" or have been granted guardianship over a voter may not sign on a voter's behalf.    

·     Group Voting Prohibited:  It is a felony for anyone to plan or organize a meeting at which absentee ballots are marked.  In addition, it is a misdemeanor for a person to participate in a meeting or a portion of a meeting of more than 2 persons, other than the person's immediate family, at which absentee ballots are marked.  As a result, multiple voters may not be brought into a community or recreational room, dining hall or other common area for the purpose of marking ballots.  All ballots must be marked in private.  If a voter who resides in a long term care facility requests assistance with the marking of his or her ballot, the assistance must be provided in the voter's private living quarters or some other private area.

·     Delivery of Absentee Ballots:  Election officials and their authorized assistants should never offer or solicit to hand deliver absentee ballots unless the hand delivery of the ballot is necessary to ensure the timely return of the ballot.  In every case, a requested absentee ballot must be transmitted to the applicant by mail if there is an adequate amount of time for the voter to receive the ballot by mail, vote the ballot and return the ballot prior to 8:00 p.m. on the date of the election. 

·     Assisting Absentee Voters:  If the absentee voter receives assistance from another person when marking the ballot, the individual who provided the assistance must sign the certificate shown below.  The certificate appears on the outside of the ballot return envelope.

The certificate must be signed by any person who assists an absentee voter mark his or her ballot including the voter's spouse, a household member who lives with the voter, an election official or an individual employed as an election assistant.

·     Return of Absentee Ballots:  Election officials and their authorized assistants should never offer or solicit to pick-up absentee ballots unless specifically requested to do so by the voter (see "Ballot Pick-up by Election Officials" below). The persons who may return an absentee ballot are limited to 1) the voter 2) a member of the voter's immediate family who has been asked to return the ballot 3) a person residing in the voter's household who has been asked to return the ballot 4) a person whose job normally includes the handling of mail (but only during the course of his or her employment) and 5) an authorized election official. 

·     Ballot Pick-up by Election Officials:  An election official is required to pick up a voter's absentee ballot if all of the following conditions are satisfied: 1) the election official issued the ballot to the voter 2) the voter is unable to return the ballot under any of the authorized delivery methods 3) the voter calls to request the pick up of his or her ballot before 5:00 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the election and 4) it is not necessary for the election official to travel outside of the jurisdiction to obtain the ballot.

Election assistants authorized to pick up absentee ballots must carry appropriate credentials and show them when asked.

Question?  Please contact the Bureau of Elections at: 1-800-292-5973.