103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB3543

 

Introduced 2/17/2023, by Rep. Amy L. Grant

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
10 ILCS 5/19-6  from Ch. 46, par. 19-6

    Amends the Election Code. Requires that the envelope of a vote by mail ballot is also endorsed by a resident of the voter's address of registration to verify the voter's identity and residence. Provides that alternatively, if no other person resides at the voter's address of registration or is available to endorse the envelope, a resident of the voter's precinct may endorse the envelope or the voter may provide with the ballot the voter's utility bill or lease to verify identity and residency.


LRB103 29848 BMS 56257 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3543LRB103 29848 BMS 56257 b

1    AN ACT concerning elections.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing
5Section 19-6 as follows:
 
6    (10 ILCS 5/19-6)  (from Ch. 46, par. 19-6)
7    Sec. 19-6. Such vote by mail voter shall make and
8subscribe to the certifications provided for in the
9application and on the return envelope for the ballot, and
10such ballot or ballots shall be folded by such voter in the
11manner required to be folded before depositing the same in the
12ballot box, and be deposited in such envelope and the envelope
13securely sealed. The voter shall then endorse his certificate
14upon the back of the envelope. A resident of the voter's
15address of registration must also endorse the envelope to
16verify the voter's identity and residency. Alternatively, if
17no other person resides at the voter's address of registration
18or is available to endorse the envelope, a resident of the
19voter's precinct may endorse the envelope or the voter may
20provide with the ballot the voter's utility bill or lease to
21verify identity and residency. The and the envelope shall be
22mailed in person by such voter, postage prepaid, to the
23election authority issuing the ballot or, if more convenient,

 

 

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1it may be delivered in person, by either the voter or by any
2person authorized by the voter, or by a company licensed as a
3motor carrier of property by the Illinois Commerce Commission
4under the Illinois Commercial Transportation Law, which is
5engaged in the business of making deliveries.
6    Election authorities shall accept any vote by mail ballot
7returned, including ballots returned with insufficient or no
8postage. Election authorities may maintain one or more secure
9collection sites for the postage-free return of vote by mail
10ballots. Any election authority with collection sites shall
11collect all ballots returned each day and process them as
12required by this Code, including noting the day on which the
13ballot was collected. Ballots returned to such collection
14sites after close of business shall be dated as delivered the
15next day, with the exception of ballots delivered on election
16day, which shall be dated as received on election day.
17Election authorities shall permit electors to return vote by
18mail ballots at any collection site it has established through
19the close of polls on election day. All collection sites shall
20be secured by locks that may be opened only by election
21authority personnel. The State Board of Elections shall
22establish additional guidelines for the security of collection
23sites.
24     It shall be unlawful for any person not the voter or a
25person authorized by the voter to take the ballot and ballot
26envelope of a voter for deposit into the mail unless the ballot

 

 

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1has been issued pursuant to application by a physically
2incapacitated elector under Section 3-3 or a hospitalized
3voter under Section 19-13, in which case any employee or
4person under the direction of the facility in which the
5elector or voter is located may deposit the ballot and ballot
6envelope into the mail. If the voter authorized a person to
7deliver the ballot to the election authority, the voter and
8the person authorized to deliver the ballot shall complete the
9authorization printed on the exterior envelope supplied by an
10election authority for the return of the vote by mail ballot.
11The exterior of the envelope supplied by an election authority
12for the return of the vote by mail ballot shall include an
13authorization in substantially the following form:
 
14    I ............ (voter) authorize ............... to take
15the necessary steps to have this ballot delivered promptly to
16the office of the election authority.
 
17.......................              ........................
18         Date                           Signature of voter
 
19...............................................
20Printed Name of Authorized Delivery Agent
 
21...............................................
22Signature of Authorized Delivery Agency
 

 

 

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1...............................................
2Date Delivered to the Election Authority
3(Source: P.A. 102-1, eff. 4-2-21; 102-668, eff. 11-15-21.)