Any registered voter, under the circumstances specified in section 53.1, may on any day, except election day, and not more than seventy days prior to the date of the election, apply in person for an absentee ballot at the commissioner's office or at any location designated by the commissioner, or make written application to the commissioner for an absentee ballot. The state commissioner shall prescribe a form for absentee ballot applications. However, if a registered voter submits an application that includes all of the information required in this section, the prescribed form is not required.
This section does not require that a written communication mailed to the commissioner's office to request an absentee ballot, or any other document be notarized as a prerequisite to receiving or marking an absentee ballot or returning to the commissioner an absentee ballot which has been voted.
Each application shall contain the name and signature of the registered voter, the address at which the voter is registered to vote, and the name or date of the election for which the absentee ballot is requested, and such other information as may be necessary to determine the correct absentee ballot for the registered voter. If insufficient information has been provided, the commissioner shall, by the best means available, obtain the additional necessary information.
If the application is for a primary election ballot and the request is for a ballot of a party different from that recorded on the registered voter's voter registration record, the requested ballot shall be mailed or given to the applicant together with a "Change or Declaration of Party Affiliation" form as prescribed in section 43.42, to be completed by the registered voter at the time of voting. Upon receipt of the properly completed form, the commissioner shall approve the change or declaration and enter a notation of the change on the registration records.
If an application for an absentee ballot is received from an eligible elector who is not a registered voter the commissioner shall send a registration form under section 48A.8 and an absentee ballot to the eligible elector. If the application is received so late that it is unlikely that the registration form can be returned in time to be effective on election day, the commissioner shall enclose with the absentee ballot a notice to that effect, informing the voter of the registration time limits in section 48A.9. The commissioner shall record on the elector's application that the elector is not currently registered to vote. If the registration form is properly returned by the time provided by section 48A.9, the commissioner shall record on the elector's application the date of receipt of the registration form and enter a notation of the registration on the registration records.
A registered voter who has not moved from the county in which the elector is registered to vote may submit a change of name, telephone number, or address on the form prescribed in section 48A.8 when casting an absentee ballot. Upon receipt of a properly completed form, the commissioner shall enter a notation of the change on the registration records.
[SS15, § 1137-c, -d; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 928, 930; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, § 53.2, 53.4; C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 53.2]
83 Acts, ch 176, § 6; 84 Acts, ch 1291, § 11; 86 Acts, ch 1224, § 28; 87 Acts, ch 221, § 25; 91 Acts, ch 129, §17; 94 Acts, ch 1169, §54
Referred to in § 53.22, 53.39, 53.45, 53.49
Iowa General Assembly
Search: Iowa Code 1995
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