103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB3657

 

Introduced 2/17/2023, by Rep. Ryan Spain

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 140/2.23 new
10 ILCS 5/19-6  from Ch. 46, par. 19-6

    Amends the Election Code. Provides that collection sites for vote by mail ballots shall be established only on the grounds of a public building in which a unit of local government conducts its ordinary business and in which there are no residential dwelling units. Provides that those collection sites shall be recorded by security cameras, and the security camera recordings shall be retained by the election authority for a period of 90-days after each election. Provides that the State's Attorney shall confirm that the security cameras are working at least once per week until election day starting when the first vote by mail ballots have been mailed. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to provide that those recordings are public records subject to inspection and copying by the public during that 90-day period. Effective immediately.


LRB103 05872 AWJ 50893 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3657LRB103 05872 AWJ 50893 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 Freedom of Information Act is amended by
5adding Section 2.23 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 140/2.23 new)
7    Sec. 2.23. Ballot box recordings. Recordings of collection
8sites for vote by mail ballots are public records subject to
9inspection and copying by the public as provided in Section
1019-6 of the Election Code.
 
11    Section 10. The Election Code is amended by changing
12Section 19-6 as follows:
 
13    (10 ILCS 5/19-6)  (from Ch. 46, par. 19-6)
14    Sec. 19-6. Such vote by mail voter shall make and
15subscribe to the certifications provided for in the
16application and on the return envelope for the ballot, and
17such ballot or ballots shall be folded by such voter in the
18manner required to be folded before depositing the same in the
19ballot box, and be deposited in such envelope and the envelope
20securely sealed. The voter shall then endorse his certificate
21upon the back of the envelope and the envelope shall be mailed

 

 

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1in person by such voter, postage prepaid, to the election
2authority issuing the ballot or, if more convenient, it may be
3delivered in person, by either the voter or by any person
4authorized by the voter, or by a company licensed as a motor
5carrier of property by the Illinois Commerce Commission under
6the Illinois Commercial Transportation Law, which is engaged
7in the business of making deliveries.
8    Election authorities shall accept any vote by mail ballot
9returned, including ballots returned with insufficient or no
10postage. Election authorities may maintain one or more secure
11collection sites for the postage-free return of vote by mail
12ballots. Any election authority with collection sites shall
13collect all ballots returned each day and process them as
14required by this Code, including noting the day on which the
15ballot was collected. Ballots returned to such collection
16sites after close of business shall be dated as delivered the
17next day, with the exception of ballots delivered on election
18day, which shall be dated as received on election day.
19Election authorities shall permit electors to return vote by
20mail ballots at any collection site it has established through
21the close of polls on election day. Collection sites shall be
22established only on the grounds of a public building in which a
23unit of local government conducts its ordinary business and in
24which there are no residential dwelling units. All collection
25sites shall be secured by locks that may be opened only by
26election authority personnel. All collection sites shall be

 

 

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1recorded by security cameras. The security camera recordings
2shall be retained by the election authority for 90 days after
3each election and shall be available for inspection and
4copying under the Freedom of Information Act during that
590-day period. The State's Attorney shall confirm that the
6security cameras are working at least once per week until
7election day starting when the first vote by mail ballots have
8been mailed. The State Board of Elections shall establish
9additional guidelines for the security of collection sites.
10     It shall be unlawful for any person not the voter or a
11person authorized by the voter to take the ballot and ballot
12envelope of a voter for deposit into the mail unless the ballot
13has been issued pursuant to application by a physically
14incapacitated elector under Section 3-3 or a hospitalized
15voter under Section 19-13, in which case any employee or
16person under the direction of the facility in which the
17elector or voter is located may deposit the ballot and ballot
18envelope into the mail. If the voter authorized a person to
19deliver the ballot to the election authority, the voter and
20the person authorized to deliver the ballot shall complete the
21authorization printed on the exterior envelope supplied by an
22election authority for the return of the vote by mail ballot.
23The exterior of the envelope supplied by an election authority
24for the return of the vote by mail ballot shall include an
25authorization in substantially the following form:
 

 

 

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1    I ............ (voter) authorize ............... to take
2the necessary steps to have this ballot delivered promptly to
3the office of the election authority.
 
4.......................              ........................
5         Date                           Signature of voter
 
6...............................................
7Printed Name of Authorized Delivery Agent
 
8...............................................
9Signature of Authorized Delivery Agency
 
10...............................................
11Date Delivered to the Election Authority
12(Source: P.A. 102-1, eff. 4-2-21; 102-668, eff. 11-15-21.)
 
13    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
14becoming law.