Bill Text: IL HB3429 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Election Code. Requires an election authority to enclose a prepaid return envelope with a vote by mail ballot or application in which the vote by mail ballot may be returned free of charge (rather than informing the vote by mail voter of the required postage for returning the application and ballot).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-21 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Jonathan "Yoni" Pizer [HB3429 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB3429-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB3429 Introduced , by Rep. Kambium Buckner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
10 ILCS 5/19-4 from Ch. 46, par. 19-4
Amends the Election Code. Requires an election authority to enclose a prepaid return envelope with a vote by mail ballot or application in which the vote by mail ballot may be returned free of charge (rather than informing the vote by mail voter of the required postage for returning the application and ballot).
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning elections.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section
19-4 as follows:
(10 ILCS 5/19-4) (from Ch. 46, par. 19-4)
Sec. 19-4. Mailing or delivery of ballots; time.
Immediately upon the receipt of such application either by mail
or electronic means, not more than 90 days nor less than 5 days
prior to such election, or by personal delivery not more than
90 days nor less than one day prior to such election, at the
office of such election authority, it shall be the duty of such
election authority to examine the records to ascertain whether
or not such applicant is lawfully entitled to vote as
requested, including a verification of the applicant's
signature by comparison with the signature on the official
registration record card, and if found so to be entitled to
vote, to post within one business day thereafter the name,
street address, ward and precinct number or township and
district number, as the case may be, of such applicant given on
a list, the pages of which are to be numbered consecutively to
be kept by such election authority for such purpose in a
conspicuous, open and public place accessible to the public at

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the entrance of the office of such election authority, and in
such a manner that such list may be viewed without necessity of
requesting permission therefor. Within one day after posting
the name and other information of an applicant for a vote by
mail ballot, the election authority shall transmit by
electronic means pursuant to a process established by the State
Board of Elections that name and other posted information to
the State Board of Elections, which shall maintain those names
and other information in an electronic format on its website,
arranged by county and accessible to State and local political
committees. Within 2 business days after posting a name and
other information on the list within its office, but no sooner
than 40 days before an election, the election authority shall
mail, postage prepaid, or deliver in person in such office an
official ballot or ballots if more than one are to be voted at
said election. Mail delivery of Temporarily Absent Student
ballot applications pursuant to Section 19-12.3 shall be by
nonforwardable mail. However, for the consolidated election,
vote by mail ballots for certain precincts may be delivered to
applicants not less than 25 days before the election if so much
time is required to have prepared and printed the ballots
containing the names of persons nominated for offices at the
consolidated primary. The election authority shall enclose
with each vote by mail ballot or application (i) a prepaid
return envelope in which the vote by mail ballot may be
returned free of charge, (ii) written instructions on how

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voting assistance shall be provided pursuant to Section 17-14
and, (iii) a document, written and approved by the State Board
of Elections, informing the vote by mail voter of the required
postage for returning the application and ballot, and
enumerating the circumstances under which a person is
authorized to vote by vote by mail ballot pursuant to this
Article; such document shall also include a statement informing
the applicant that if he or she falsifies or is solicited by
another to falsify his or her eligibility to cast a vote by
mail ballot, such applicant or other is subject to penalties
pursuant to Section 29-10 and Section 29-20 of the Election
Code. Each election authority shall maintain a list of the
name, street address, ward and precinct, or township and
district number, as the case may be, of all applicants who have
returned vote by mail ballots to such authority, and the name
of such vote by mail voter shall be added to such list within
one business day from receipt of such ballot. If the vote by
mail ballot envelope indicates that the voter was assisted in
casting the ballot, the name of the person so assisting shall
be included on the list. The list, the pages of which are to be
numbered consecutively, shall be kept by each election
authority in a conspicuous, open, and public place accessible
to the public at the entrance of the office of the election
authority and in a manner that the list may be viewed without
necessity of requesting permission for viewing.
Each election authority shall maintain a list for each

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election of the voters to whom it has issued vote by mail
ballots. The list shall be maintained for each precinct within
the jurisdiction of the election authority. Prior to the
opening of the polls on election day, the election authority
shall deliver to the judges of election in each precinct the
list of registered voters in that precinct to whom vote by mail
ballots have been issued by mail.
Each election authority shall maintain a list for each
election of voters to whom it has issued temporarily absent
student ballots. The list shall be maintained for each election
jurisdiction within which such voters temporarily abide.
Immediately after the close of the period during which
application may be made by mail or electronic means for vote by
mail ballots, each election authority shall mail to each other
election authority within the State a certified list of all
such voters temporarily abiding within the jurisdiction of the
other election authority.
In the event that the return address of an application for
ballot by a physically incapacitated elector is that of a
facility licensed or certified under the Nursing Home Care Act,
the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the
ID/DD Community Care Act, or the MC/DD Act, within the
jurisdiction of the election authority, and the applicant is a
registered voter in the precinct in which such facility is
located, the ballots shall be prepared and transmitted to a
responsible judge of election no later than 9 a.m. on the

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Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday immediately preceding the
election as designated by the election authority under Section
19-12.2. Such judge shall deliver in person on the designated
day the ballot to the applicant on the premises of the facility
from which application was made. The election authority shall
by mail notify the applicant in such facility that the ballot
will be delivered by a judge of election on the designated day.
All applications for vote by mail ballots shall be
available at the office of the election authority for public
inspection upon request from the time of receipt thereof by the
election authority until 30 days after the election, except
during the time such applications are kept in the office of the
election authority pursuant to Section 19-7, and except during
the time such applications are in the possession of the judges
of election.
(Source: P.A. 98-104, eff. 7-22-13; 98-115, eff. 7-29-13;
98-756, eff. 7-16-14; 98-1171, eff. 6-1-15; 99-180, eff.
7-29-15; 99-522, eff. 6-30-16.)