Bill Text: IL HB3651 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Voting by Mail Article of the Election Code. Provides that it shall be the duty of an 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 only on the official registration record card. Provides that within 2 days after a vote by mail ballot is received, the election judge or official shall compare the voter's signature on the certification envelope of that vote by mail ballot only with the signature of the voter on file in the office of the election authority. Provides that the election authority shall not compare the signature with the vote by mail application.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3651 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB3651-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3651 Introduced , by Rep. Ryan Spain SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
10 ILCS 5/19-4 from Ch. 46, par. 19-4
10 ILCS 5/19-8 from Ch. 46, par. 19-8
Amends the Voting by Mail Article of the Election Code. Provides that it shall be the duty of an 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 only on the official registration record card. Provides that within 2 days after a vote by mail ballot is received, the election judge or official shall compare the voter's signature on the certification envelope of that vote by mail ballot only with the signature of the voter on file in the office of the election authority. Provides that the election authority shall not compare the signature with the vote by mail application.
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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
Sections 19-4 and 19-8 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 only 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

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the public at 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, or deliver via
electronic transmission pursuant to Section 19-2.6, 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 written

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instructions on how voting assistance shall be provided
pursuant to Section 17-14 and 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.
Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the
contrary, pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 30 of the
Address Confidentiality for Victims of Domestic Violence,
Sexual Assault, Human Trafficking, or Stalking Act, neither
the name nor the address of a program participant under that
Act shall be included in any list of registered voters
available to the public, including the lists referenced in
this Section.
(Source: P.A. 102-292, eff. 1-1-22; 102-819, eff. 5-13-22.)
(10 ILCS 5/19-8) (from Ch. 46, par. 19-8)

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Sec. 19-8. Time and place of counting ballots.
(a) (Blank.)
(b) Each vote by mail voter's ballot returned to an
election authority, by any means authorized by this Article,
and received by that election authority before the closing of
the polls on election day shall be endorsed by the receiving
election authority with the day and hour of receipt and may be
processed by the election authority beginning on the day it is
received by the election authority in the central ballot
counting location of the election authority, but the results
of the processing may not be counted until the day of the
election after 7:00 p.m., except as provided in subsections
(g) and (g-5).
(c) Each vote by mail voter's ballot that is mailed to an
election authority and postmarked no later than election day,
but that is received by the election authority after the polls
close on election day and before the close of the period for
counting provisional ballots cast at that election, shall be
endorsed by the receiving authority with the day and hour of
receipt and shall be counted at the central ballot counting
location of the election authority during the period for
counting provisional ballots.
Each vote by mail voter's ballot that is mailed to an
election authority absent a postmark or a barcode usable with
an intelligent mail barcode tracking system, but that is
received by the election authority after the polls close on

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election day and before the close of the period for counting
provisional ballots cast at that election, shall be endorsed
by the receiving authority with the day and hour of receipt,
opened to inspect the date inserted on the certification, and,
if the certification date is election day or earlier and the
ballot is otherwise found to be valid under the requirements
of this Section, counted at the central ballot counting
location of the election authority during the period for
counting provisional ballots. Absent a date on the
certification, the ballot shall not be counted.
If an election authority is using an intelligent mail
barcode tracking system, a ballot that is mailed to an
election authority absent a postmark may be counted if the
intelligent mail barcode tracking system verifies the envelope
was mailed no later than election day.
(d) Special write-in vote by mail voter's blank ballots
returned to an election authority, by any means authorized by
this Article, and received by the election authority at any
time before the closing of the polls on election day shall be
endorsed by the receiving election authority with the day and
hour of receipt and shall be counted at the central ballot
counting location of the election authority during the same
period provided for counting vote by mail voters' ballots
under subsections (b), (g), and (g-5). Special write-in vote
by mail voter's blank ballots that are mailed to an election
authority and postmarked no later than election day, but that

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are received by the election authority after the polls close
on election day and before the closing of the period for
counting provisional ballots cast at that election, shall be
endorsed by the receiving authority with the day and hour of
receipt and shall be counted at the central ballot counting
location of the election authority during the same periods
provided for counting vote by mail voters' ballots under
subsection (c).
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, vote by
mail voters' ballots and special write-in vote by mail voter's
blank ballots received by the election authority after the
closing of the polls on an election day shall be endorsed by
the election authority receiving them with the day and hour of
receipt and shall be safely kept unopened by the election
authority for the period of time required for the preservation
of ballots used at the election, and shall then, without being
opened, be destroyed in like manner as the used ballots of that
election.
(f) Counting required under this Section to begin on
election day after the closing of the polls shall commence no
later than 8:00 p.m. and shall be conducted by a panel or
panels of election judges appointed in the manner provided by
law. The counting shall continue until all vote by mail
voters' ballots and special write-in vote by mail voter's
blank ballots required to be counted on election day have been
counted.

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(g) The procedures set forth in Articles 17 and 18 of this
Code shall apply to all ballots counted under this Section. In
addition, within 2 days after a vote by mail ballot is
received, but in all cases before the close of the period for
counting provisional ballots, the election judge or official
shall compare the voter's signature on the certification
envelope of that vote by mail ballot only with the signature of
the voter on file in the office of the election authority. The
election authority shall not compare the signature with the
vote by mail application. If the election judge or official
determines that the 2 signatures match, and that the vote by
mail voter is otherwise qualified to cast a vote by mail
ballot, the election authority shall cast and count the ballot
on election day or the day the ballot is determined to be
valid, whichever is later, adding the results to the precinct
in which the voter is registered. If the election judge or
official determines that the signatures do not match, or that
the vote by mail voter is not qualified to cast a vote by mail
ballot, then without opening the certification envelope, the
judge or official shall mark across the face of the
certification envelope the word "Rejected" and shall not cast
or count the ballot.
In addition to the voter's signatures not matching, a vote
by mail ballot may be rejected by the election judge or
official:
(1) if the ballot envelope is open or has been opened

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and resealed;
(2) if the voter has already cast an early or grace
period ballot;
(3) if the voter voted in person on election day or the
voter is not a duly registered voter in the precinct; or
(4) on any other basis set forth in this Code.
If the election judge or official determines that any of
these reasons apply, the judge or official shall mark across
the face of the certification envelope the word "Rejected" and
shall not cast or count the ballot.
(g-5) If a vote by mail ballot is rejected by the election
judge or official for any reason, the election authority
shall, within 2 days after the rejection but in all cases
before the close of the period for counting provisional
ballots, notify the vote by mail voter that his or her ballot
was rejected. The notice shall inform the voter of the reason
or reasons the ballot was rejected and shall state that the
voter may appear before the election authority, on or before
the 14th day after the election, to show cause as to why the
ballot should not be rejected. The voter may present evidence
to the election authority supporting his or her contention
that the ballot should be counted. The election authority
shall appoint a panel of 3 election judges to review the
contested ballot, application, and certification envelope, as
well as any evidence submitted by the vote by mail voter. No
more than 2 election judges on the reviewing panel shall be of

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the same political party. The reviewing panel of election
judges shall make a final determination as to the validity of
the contested vote by mail ballot. The judges' determination
shall not be reviewable either administratively or judicially.
A vote by mail ballot subject to this subsection that is
determined to be valid shall be counted before the close of the
period for counting provisional ballots.
(g-10) All vote by mail ballots determined to be valid
shall be added to the vote totals for the precincts for which
they were cast in the order in which the ballots were opened.
(h) Each political party, candidate, and qualified civic
organization shall be entitled to have present one pollwatcher
for each panel of election judges therein assigned.
(Source: P.A. 98-1171, eff. 6-1-15; 99-522, eff. 6-30-16.)