(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.)
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