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absentee ballot

 
Dictionary: absentee ballot
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n.
A ballot marked and mailed in advance by a voter away from the place where he or she is registered.


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Law Encyclopedia: Absentee Voting
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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Participation in an election by qualified voters who are permitted to mail in their ballots.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C.A. § 1973ff et seq.) covers absentee voting in presidential elections, but the states regulate absentee voting in all other elections. According to Article I, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may … make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of ch[oo]sing Senators."

Originally created to accommodate overseas military service personnel in World War I, absentee voting has since expanded to include all those expecting to be absent from their pre- cincts on election day. The right to vote, even by absentee ballot, is no trifling concern. A state may restrict it only to the extent that doing so serves a compelling state interest such as preventing fraud.

Although all states allow absentee voting, the procedures and qualifications vary from state to state. For example, the amount of time that an application for an absentee ballot must precede the election can vary. In Minnesota, it is one day (M.S.A. § 203B.04[1]). In Louisiana, it depends on the voter: for example, a voter who goes in person to apply for an absentee ballot and vote must do so between twelve and six days before the election (LSA-R.S. 18:1309[a][1]); a voter who registers for an absentee ballot by mail must get the registration form to the registrar not more than sixty days and not less than ninety-six hours before the election (LSA-R.S. 18:1307[b]); military personnel must return the application not more than twelve months and not less than seven days before election day (LSA-R.S. 18:1307[c]).

Many states allow absentee voters to vote again on election day if they are present in the state. If voters so choose, they may change their votes. Officials in states that allow this practice count the absentee ballots after the poll ballots have been counted, and any duplicate absentee ballots are simply disregarded. This is the case in Minnesota (M.S.A. § 203B.13[3a]). In Louisiana, however, a person who has voted by absentee ballot may not vote again on election day (LSA-R.S. 18:1305). In 1977, Louisiana amended its law to allow absentee voters to change their votes on election day, but in 1980, it changed the law again to prohibit the practice.

In any state, to cast an absentee ballot, citizens must be eligible voters and have a reason for being unable to vote at the polls. If citizens know they will be absent from their voting precincts on election day, they may vote by absentee ballot. Between August 1, 1991, and November 30, 1992, Minnesota experimented with allowing voters to cast absentee ballots without explanation, but this practice was discontinued on January 1, 1994.

All states allow persons with permanent disabilities and military personnel to cast votes by absentee ballot. Other valid reasons for voting in absentia include illness, temporary disability, and religious observances or practices. In Louisiana, any person age sixty-five or older may vote by absentee ballot.

All states require that the application for an absentee ballot be requested before election day, but this rule has some exceptions. In Minnesota, for example, a health care patient who becomes a resident or patient in a health care facility on the day before the election may vote by absentee ballot on election day if she or he telephones the municipal clerk by 5:00 p.m. the day before the election (M.S.A. § 203B.04[2]). Each county enlists election judges to deliver absentee ballots to hospitalized voters (M.S.A. § 203B.11[3]).

Some people have had to fight for the right to vote by absentee ballot. In Cepulonis v. Secretary of the Commonwealth, 452 N.E.2d 1137, 389 Mass. 930 (Mass. 1983), Richard Cepulonis and Kevin Murphy, two Massachusetts residents and long-term prisoners in the Walpole Massachusetts Correctional Institution, asserted their right to vote by absentee ballot. Cepulonis, eligible for parole in 1997, and Murphy, eligible for parole in 1985, attempted to vote from prison in 1982. City officials in Worcester told Cepulonis that he could not vote by absentee ballot without registering in person, and officials in Boston told Murphy the same.

Cepulonis and Murphy filed suit together in superior court, asking for a class action on behalf of Massachusetts prisoners and a judicial declaration that the class of prisoners be declared eligible to vote by absentee ballot. The judge denied the requests, holding specifically that prisoners who did not register to vote prior to their imprisonment, and prisoners who are not imprisoned in the city of their domicile, may not register to vote by absentee ballot because they must register to vote in person. The absentee voting statutes of Massachusetts contained no provision for voter registration of Massachusetts prisoners through the postal service.

Cepulonis and Murphy asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to review the case; on August 15, 1982, the court denied the request. On October 21, Cepulonis and Murphy moved for a court order allowing prisoners to vote in the November 2 elections; the Massachusetts high court denied this as well. Cepulonis and Murphy then filed a motion for injunctive relief — a court order — with the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., denied the motion without prejudice, which meant that Cepulonis and Murphy were free to bring the matter before the Court in the future. Justice John Paul Stevens referred the case to the full bench of the Supreme Court, which, after consideration, refused to command Massachusetts to institute procedures enabling incarcerated residents to vote by absentee ballot.

Undaunted, Cepulonis and Murphy applied directly to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for review of the case; the court granted the application. On April 4, 1983, Cepulonis and Murphy argued that Massachusetts's failure to install an absentee registration procedure for incarcerated residents deprived those residents of their state constitutional right to vote in state elections. Although some states had chosen to prohibit convicted criminals from voting in elections, Massachusetts had not.

The court began the analysis in its opinion by discussing the case law of Massachusetts on the subject of voting. Without exception, the precedents held that voting laws should be interpreted to facilitate voting, and not to impair or defeat the right to vote. In light of this principle, the court announced, it agreed with Cepulonis and Murphy: the Massachusetts statutory scheme was denying deserving citizens a state constitutional right.

The court then examined the Massachusetts statutory scheme and observed that some eligible prisoners could vote, whereas others could not. The absentee voting laws of Massachusetts provided that prisoners incarcerated in the municipality of their domicile, if already registered, could vote by absentee ballot. On the other hand, registered voters incarcerated in a municipality other than their own could not register for absentee ballots. Furthermore, prisoners who were adult registered voters before they were incarcerated could vote, but prisoners reaching the age of majority while incarcerated could not vote. These distinctions were arbitrary and, according to the court, unconstitutional.

The court then cited relevant case law that held that Massachusetts must prove the existence of a compelling state interest when it denies a fundamental right such as voting. The state argued that the registration laws existed in their present form to prevent voter fraud. The court countered by pointing out that Maine, New York, Vermont, Georgia, and Pennsylvania had all seen fit to permit prisoners domiciled in their states to register as absentee voters. This showed that it was possible to create a system allowing eligible prisoners to vote by absentee ballot.

The state also argued that prisoners not registered to vote had had the opportunity to register before incarceration. Requiring the state to supply special absentee voting procedures to disinterested citizens seemed unnecessary. However, failure to register to vote before incarceration did not mean that prisoners who were otherwise eligible should be denied the right to vote, and, according to the court, no case law supported such a denial.

Ultimately, the court held that Massachusetts prisoners must be given the means to vote in state elections. The Massachusetts absentee voting statutes were unconstitutional to the extent that they prevented incarcerated, eligible Massachusetts voters from registering to vote. The court refrained from giving the vote to Cepulonis and Murphy, and instead left the job of revising the Massachusetts absentee voting laws to the legislature.

In a connected case, the Superior Court of Norfolk County awarded attorneys' fees to Cepulonis and Murphy. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in 1986 (Cepulonis v. Registrars of Voters, 488 N.E.2d 1166, 396 Mass. 808).

See: Elections; Prisoners' Rights.

WordNet: absentee ballot
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a ballot that is cast in absentia (usually mailed in prior to election day)

Wikipedia: Absentee ballot
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An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station. Numerous methods have been devised to facilitate this. Increasing the ease of access to absentee ballots are seen by many as one way to improve voter turnout, though some countries require that a valid reason, such as infirmity or travel, be given before a voter can participate in an absentee ballot.

Contents

Methods

Postal voting

In a postal vote, the ballot papers are posted out to the voter - usually only on request - who must then fill them out and return them, often with some form of certification by a witness and their signature to prove their identity.

Proxy voting

To cast a proxy vote, the user appoints someone as their proxy, by authorizing them to cast or secure their vote in their stead. The proxy must be trusted by the voter, as in a secret ballot there is no way of verifying that they voted for the correct candidate. In an attempt to solve this, it is not uncommon for people to nominate an official of their chosen party as their proxy.

Internet voting

Main article: Internet voting

Corporations and organizations routinely use Internet voting to elect officers and Board members and for other proxy elections.[1]

Internet voting systems have been used privately in many modern nations and publicly in the United States, France[2], the UK, Switzerland and Estonia. Several cantons (Geneva, Neuchâtel and Zürich) have run pilot programs to allow citizens to vote via the Internet since 2001.[3] or by SMS. Approval of the pilot experience has lead to the expansion of the program to include and additional canton an Swiss living abroad.[4] voters obtain their passwords to access the ballot through the postal service. Most voters in Estonia can cast their vote in local and parliamentary elections, if they want to, via the Internet, as most of those on the electoral roll have access to an e-voting system.[citation needed] It has been assisted by the fact that most Estonians carry a national identity card equipped with a computer-readable microchip and it is these cards which they use to get access to the online ballot. All a voter needs is a computer, an electronic card reader, their ID card and its PIN, and they can vote from anywhere in the world. Estonian e-votes can only be cast during the days of advance voting. On Election Day itself people have to go to polling stations and fill in a paper ballot.

Absentee ballot examples

Germany

In all German elections, postal votes are available on demand for everybody without giving a reason.

India

Main article: Absentee voting in India

As of now, India does not have an absentee ballot system for all citizens. In a restricted sense, The Representation of the People Act-1950 [5] (RPA) section 20(8) allows people such as people on polling duty and serving in armed forces to vote in absentia through postal means.

Section 20 of the RPA-1950 disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents an NRI from casting his/her vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures . Recently several civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system [6] [7].

Ireland

In Ireland, postal votes are only available in a restricted set of circumstances. The Irish constitution requires a secret ballot and the courts have interpreted this quite narrowly. Postal votes are available to people who by reason of their occupation, cannot vote normally. They are also available to students living away from home, to people with disabilities, to prisoners (since January 2007), and to long term residents of hospitals, nursing homes and other similar institutions.

Israel

Israel does not have an absentee ballot system for all citizens. Absentee ballots are restricted to soldiers, prisoners, sailors, overseas diplomats, disabled persons and hospitalized people. The votes are not cast directly but placed in a double envelope with identifying information and counted directly by the elections committee only after verifying that that the voter has not voted at his official polling station. Most absentee ballots are cast the day of the elections in alternate polling stations. Early voting is limited to civil servants overseas. There is no postal voting.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, liberalised proxy voting is available. Voters can authorise someone else to cast their ballot without having to go through a registration procedure. Voters can cast a maximum of 2 proxy votes along with their own ballot. Postal ballots and Internet voting are only available to Dutch citizens living abroad, or having occupational duties abroad on election day.[8]

The Philippines

As provided by the Overseas Absentee Voting Act, absentee voting in Philippine elections is only available in certain circumstances, such as Overseas Filipino Workers or other migrants. Votes must be cast in person as select polling places, such as at a consulate. There are no mail-in written ballots.

Switzerland

Main article: Voting in Switzerland

Swiss federal law allows postal voting in all federal elections and referenda,[9] and all cantons also allow it for cantonal ballot issues. All voters receive their personal ballot by mail and may either cast it at a polling station or mail it back.

United Kingdom

In all United Kingdom elections, postal votes are available on demand - no reason must be given - although a vote rigging scandal involving postal votes marred the 2005 Birmingham local election.[10]

United States

No-excuse early voting in U.S. states, as of September 2007.      in-person and postal      in-person only      postal only      none
See also: Early voting
See also: Postal voting

In the United States, an absentee ballot is a ballot that the voter records and casts other than at a designated polling station on Election Day. Typically these ballots are mailed, though some states provide provisions for emailing ballots, faxing ballots, or delivering them in person to a designated location.[citation needed] Typically a voter must request an absentee ballot at least a week before the election occurs. Each State's Secretary of State or Director of Elections is in charge of the election process, including voter registration and absentee ballot requests. Balloting materials may be sent via the United States Postal Service without prepayment of postage for members of the Armed Forces, members of the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. citizens residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia and their spouses.[11]

Absentee voting by mail is allowed with no excuse in 28 states, and with an excuse in 22. No-excuse permanent absentee voting is allowed in 4 states. Early voting in person is allowed with no excuse required in 31 U.S. states, with an excuse in 3, and not at all in 16. The District of Columbia requires an excuse for both early voting and absentee voting.[12]

Voters (usually) mark their ballots, which may be an optically read ballot marked with a pen or pencil, or may be a punch card ballot. They then mail the ballot to the state, or may bring the ballot in person to a designated location.

Each state has different laws regulating when absentee ballots must be counted, and who does the counting. Most states count absentee ballots on Election Day which can continue for several days after. The latest deadline is 10 days after Election day (for Washington, D.C., and for overseas absentee ballots sent to Florida.)

American citizens who are overseas, including active members of the military, are covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act that, among other things, provides for a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot which may be used in place of absentee ballots provided under state laws. The Federal Voting Assistance Program is a government program that assists such voters and exercises other authority under this act.

Absentee ballot for the 2008 General Election
Pacific Northwest

Voting in the states of Oregon and Washington are unique in regards to the rest of the nation, in that voting is conducted by mail.

Oregon

The ballot in Oregon is mailed to all residents, who are then supposed to fill out the ballot and either mail it back to the elections official or bring it to a drop box. The term "absentee ballot" in Oregon refers to mailing the ballot to the county elections official, and not merely to receiving the ballot in the mail. As with most states, Oregon residents must register in advance to be able to vote via absentee ballot.

Washington State

Originally, absentee ballots in Washington State were mailed prior to election day to those voters who contacted their local county by indicating that they would be unable to vote at their local polling place on election day. In 1993, the state began allowing all voters to vote by mail on a permanent basis. Since that time, voting by mail has gained in popularity, and the term "absentee ballot" has become synonymous with voting by mail. According to the Secretary of State, in 2006, over 88% of all voters cast votes using the vote-by-mail method.

Currently all but one of the state's 39 counties have switched entirely to vote-by-mail, with Pierce County still allowing poll voting. The County Executive has supported moving to vote-by-mail, while the County Council has voiced opposition. When the state's largest county, King, switched to all mail voting in February 2009, it became the largest county in the nation, in terms of number of voters, where elections are conducted entirely by mail. Many counties provide drop boxes throughout the county to allow voters to drop off their ballot on or prior to election day, rather than paying postage by sending it through the mail. [13]. Ballots returned by mail need only be postmarked by election date, resulting in ballots being received by election officials over several days following an actual election.

California

California's Secretary of State has reported that in every general election since 1993, between 20% and 30% of ballots cast have been absentee ballots.

Maine

In the state of Maine, any voter may cast an absentee ballot and is not required to give a reason. They must fill out an application, available from the Secretary of State or their town clerk, and turn it in by hand or mail. They are then given or mailed a ballot, which must be returned to the town clerk by hand or by mail before the polls close on Election Day.

Absentee Ballot applications are available at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/absent.htm. Ballots may be requested up to three months before an election. The ballots are available 30 to 45 days before an election. Maine voters can find their town at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/clerk.htm.

Maryland

Any registered Maryland voter may vote by absentee ballot. Voters are not required to provide a reason for voting via absentee ballot.

To request an absentee ballot, complete the Absentee Ballot Application. To use this form, enter the required information, print the form, sign it, and send it to your County Board of Elections.

After the deadline, a Late Application for Absentee Ballot must be completed in person at the board of elections.

Under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, military and overseas voters can vote by absentee ballot. If you are a military or overseas voter, learn more about absentee voting and the FVAP's On-line Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot.

Ballots are typically mailed approximately three weeks before an election.

After ballot is received, vote the ballot and return it to your County Board of Elections on or before 8 p.m. on election day. A ballot received by the county board of elections will be counted provided:

  • It has been received by 8:00 p.m. on election day; or
  • It was mailed from a location within the United States before election day, bearing a postmark verifying that fact, and the ballot is received from the postal service by 4 p.m. on the Wednesday following election day; or
  • It was mailed from a location outside the United States before election day, bearing a postmark verifying that fact, and the ballot is received from the postal service by 10 a.m. on the second Friday following Election Day or 10 a.m. on the second Wednesday after a Gubernatorial Primary Election.
South Dakota

Any registered South Dakota voter may vote by absentee ballot. Absentee ballots are available for primary and general elections six weeks prior to the election. Absentee ballots for city and school elections are available several weeks prior to the election.

To receive a ballot by mail, a voter must file a written application for an absentee ballot with the person in charge of the election. The application must be mailed or hand delivered to the person in charge of the election. The application cannot be submitted by fax. The voter's signature on the application must be notarized or witnessed by an official who will deliver the ballot to the voter. An application for a ballot by authorized messenger must be received by the person in charge of the election before 3:00 p.m. the day of the election.

The voter must sign a statement on the absentee ballot envelope prior to returning the ballot. All voted ballots must be returned to the person in charge of the election in time to be delivered to the appropriate polling place prior to the closing of the polls.

Texas

In 1997 the Texas legislature passed a bill allowing residents to cast absentee ballots from space, because of the presence of the NASA Johnson Space Center and the astronauts that live in the Houston metropolitan area.[14]

References

  1. ^ Corporate Securities Alert–eProxy Rules Are Now Effective for Large Accelerated Filers, January 16, 2008
  2. ^ Election-Europe SARL, Press Release, February 1, 2007, "E-VOTING: FRENCH POLITICAL PARTY UMP MAKES HISTORY!"
  3. ^ Official State of Geneva e-voting site
  4. ^ Keiser, Andreas (22 August 2008). "E-Voting: Schweiz steht international gut da" (in German). Swissinfo. http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/startseite/E_Voting_Schweiz_steht_international_gut_da.html?siteSect=108&sid=9551386. Retrieved 2008-10-30. 
  5. ^ Representation of the People Act-1950
  6. ^ Petition for Absentee Voting in Indian Elections
  7. ^ Non-Resident Indians Voting rights in the upcoming general elections
  8. ^ Parlement & Politiek website (in Dutch)
  9. ^ Federal Statute on Political Rights , SR/RS 161.1 (E·D·F·I), art. 8 (E·D·F·I)
  10. ^ Judge upholds vote-rigging claims
  11. ^ USPS DMM 703.8
  12. ^ States - Absentee and Early Voting Laws The Early Voting Information Center at Reed College
  13. ^ [1] Washington State's Vote-By-Mail Experience
  14. ^ (October 21, 2004) Democracy in Orbit: Chiao to Vote in Space NASA

See also

External links


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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Law Encyclopedia. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Absentee ballot".  Read more