53.17  Mailing or delivering ballot.

The sealed envelope containing the absentee ballot shall be enclosed in a carrier envelope which shall be securely sealed. The sealed carrier envelope shall be returned to the commissioner by one of the following methods:

1.  The sealed carrier envelope may be delivered by the registered voter or the voter's designee to the commissioner's office no later than the time the polls are closed on election day.

2.  The sealed carrier envelope may be mailed to the commissioner. The carrier envelope shall indicate that greater postage than ordinary first class mail may be required. The commissioner shall pay any insufficient postage due on a carrier envelope bearing ordinary first class postage and accept the ballot.

In order for the ballot to be counted, the carrier envelope must be received in the commissioner's office before the polls close on election day or be clearly postmarked by an officially authorized postal service not later than the day before the election and received by the commissioner not later than noon on the Monday following the election.

If the law authorizing the election specifies that the supervisors canvass the votes earlier than the Monday following the election, absentee ballots returned through the mail must be received not later than the time established for the canvass by the board of supervisors for that election. The commissioner shall contact the post office serving the commissioner's office at the latest practicable hour before the canvass by the board of supervisors for that election, and shall arrange for absentee ballots received in that post office but not yet delivered to the commissioner's office to be brought to the commissioner's office before the canvass for that election by the board of supervisors.

Section History: Early form

  [SS15, § 1137-g; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 943; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 53.17; 81 Acts, ch 34, § 36]

Section History: Recent form

  84 Acts, ch 1291, § 17; 87 Acts, ch 221, § 26; 90 Acts, ch 1238, §29; 94 Acts, ch 1169, §64; 94 Acts, ch 1180, §22

Internal References

  Referred to in § 50.22, 50.24, 53.9, 53.44, 53.49, 53.53


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