(10 ILCS 5/19-12.1) (from Ch. 46, par. 19-12.1)

Sec. 19-12.1. Any qualified elector who has secured an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card in accordance with the Illinois Identification Card Act, indicating that the person named thereon has a Class 1A or Class 2 disability or any qualified voter who has a permanent physical incapacity of such a nature as to make it improbable that he will be able to be present at the polls at any future election, or any voter who is a resident of (i) a federally operated veterans' home, hospital, or facility located in Illinois or (ii) a facility licensed or certified pursuant to the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or the MC/DD Act and has a condition or disability of such a nature as to make it improbable that he will be able to be present at the polls at any future election, may secure a voter's identification card for persons with disabilities or a nursing home resident's identification card, which will enable him to vote under this Article as a physically incapacitated or nursing home voter. For the purposes of this Section, "federally operated veterans' home, hospital, or facility" means the long-term care facilities at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Illiana Health Care System, Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, Marion VA Medical Center, and Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.

Application for a voter's identification card for persons with disabilities or a nursing home resident's identification card shall be made either: (a) in writing, with voter's sworn affidavit, to the county clerk or board of election commissioners, as the case may be, and shall be accompanied by the affidavit of the attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant specifically describing the nature of the physical incapacity or the fact that the voter is a nursing home resident and is physically unable to be present at the polls on election days; or (b) by presenting, in writing or otherwise, to the county clerk or board of election commissioners, as the case may be, proof that the applicant has secured an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card indicating that the person named thereon has a Class 1A or Class 2 disability. Upon the receipt of either the sworn-to application and the physician's, advanced practice registered nurse's, or a physician assistant's affidavit or proof that the applicant has secured an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card indicating that the person named thereon has a Class 1A or Class 2 disability, the county clerk or board of election commissioners shall issue a voter's identification card for persons with disabilities or a nursing home resident's identification card. Such identification cards shall be issued for a period of 5 years, upon the expiration of which time the voter may secure a new card by making application in the same manner as is prescribed for the issuance of an original card, accompanied by a new affidavit of the attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant. The date of expiration of such five-year period shall be made known to any interested person by the election authority upon the request of such person. Applications for the renewal of the identification cards shall be mailed to the voters holding such cards not less than 3 months prior to the date of expiration of the cards.

Each voter's identification card for persons with disabilities or nursing home resident's identification card shall bear an identification number, which shall be clearly noted on the voter's original and duplicate registration record cards. In the event the holder becomes physically capable of resuming normal voting, he must surrender his voter's identification card for persons with disabilities or nursing home resident's identification card to the county clerk or board of election commissioners before the next election.

The holder of a voter's identification card for persons with disabilities or a nursing home resident's identification card may make application by mail for an official ballot within the time prescribed by Section 19-2. Such application shall contain the same information as is included in the form of application for ballot by a physically incapacitated elector prescribed in Section 19-3 except that it shall also include the applicant's voter's identification card for persons with disabilities card number and except that it need not be sworn to. If an examination of the records discloses that the applicant is lawfully entitled to vote, he shall be mailed a ballot as provided in Section 19-4. The ballot envelope shall be the same as that prescribed in Section 19-5 for voters with physical disabilities, and the manner of voting and returning the ballot shall be the same as that provided in this Article for other vote by mail ballots, except that a statement to be subscribed to by the voter but which need not be sworn to shall be placed on the ballot envelope in lieu of the affidavit prescribed by Section 19-5.

Any person who knowingly subscribes to a false statement in connection with voting under this Section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

For the purposes of this Section, "nursing home resident" includes a resident of (i) a federally operated veterans' home, hospital, or facility located in Illinois or (ii) a facility licensed under the ID/DD Community Care Act, the MC/DD Act, or the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013. For the purposes of this Section, "federally operated veterans' home, hospital, or facility" means the long-term care facilities at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Illiana Health Care System, Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, Marion VA Medical Center, and Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.

(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-180, eff. 7-29-15; 99-581, eff. 1-1-17; 99-642, eff. 6-28-16; 100-513, eff. 1-1-18.)