ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 397
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Bowman, Dittmar, Hunter,
Kessler, Oliverio, Ross, Schoonover, Snyder,
White, Deem and Scott)
____________
[Passed March 14, 1998; in effect from passage.]
_____________
AN ACT to amend and reenact section one, article three, chapter
three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to authorizing certain
replacement poll workers to vote emergency absentee ballots.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article three, chapter three of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. VOTING BY ABSENTEES.
§3-3-1. Persons eligible to vote absentee ballots.
(a) Duly registered and otherwise qualified voters of the
county who for authorized reasons as provided in this article are
unable to vote in person at the polling place on the day of a
primary, general or special election may vote an absentee ballot
according to the provisions of this article.
(b) Voters in the following circumstances shall be authorized to vote an absentee ballot and shall be required to vote that
absentee ballot in person in the office of the clerk of the circuit
court during the period of regular absentee voting in person:
(1) Any voter who is within the county and physically able to
vote in person during regular business hours of the clerk's office
during the prescribed period for absentee voting but is unable to
vote in person on election day because of: (A) Anticipated or
scheduled commitment to a hospital, institution or other
confinement for medical reasons; (B) absence from the county during
the entire time the polls are open; (C) appointment as an election
official in a precinct other than the one in which the voter is
registered; or (D) the inaccessibility of the polling place to the
voter because of his or her physical disability; and
(2) Any voter who is a member of a religious denomination with
an established history of observing Saturday as the Sabbath, when
the election is scheduled to be held on Saturday.
(c) Voters in the following circumstances shall be authorized
to vote an absentee ballot under special affidavit and shall be
required to vote that absentee ballot in person in the office of
the clerk of the circuit court during the period of special
absentee voting in person:
Any voter who will be absent from the county throughout the
regular period and available hours for voting in person at the
polls or at the clerk's office because of personal or business
travel or employment, who will be unable to receive an absentee ballot by mail at an address outside the county during that
absence, and who will be present within the county between the
forty-second day before the election and the fifteenth day before
the election.
(d) Voters in the following circumstances shall be authorized
to vote an absentee ballot by mail:
(1) Any voter who is confined to a specific location and
prevented from voting in person throughout the period of voting in
person because of: (A) Illness, injury or other medical reason;
(B) physical disability or immobility due to extreme advanced age;
or (C) incarceration or home detention when not under conviction of
a felony, treason or bribery in an election;
(2) Any voter who is absent from the county throughout the
period and available hours for voting in person because of: (A)
Personal or business travel; (B) attendance at a college,
university or other place of education or training; or (C)
employment which because of hours worked and distance from the
county seat make voting in person impossible;
(3) Any voter absent from the county throughout the period and
available hours for voting in person and who is an absent uniformed
services voter or overseas voter, as defined by the Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-410,
42 U.S.C. 1973, et seq.). Members of the uniformed services on
active duty, members of the merchant marine, spouses and dependents
of those members on active duty, and persons who reside outside the United States and are qualified to vote in the last place in which
the person was domiciled before leaving the United States are
included in the above definition;
(4) Any voter who is required to dwell temporarily outside the
county and is absent from the county throughout the time for voting
in person because of: (A) Serving as an elected or appointed
federal or state officer; or (B) serving in any other documented
employment assignment of specific duration of four years or less;
and
(5) Any voter for whom both the office of the circuit clerk
and the polling place are inaccessible to the voter because of his
or her physical disability.
(e) Voters in the following circumstances shall be authorized
to vote an emergency absentee ballot, subject to the availability
of the services as provided in this article:
(1) Any voter who is admitted for emergency medical treatment
on or after the seventh day next preceding the election and who
anticipates continued confinement in a hospital or other duly
licensed health care within the county of residence or other
authorized area, as provided in this article;
(2) Any voter who resides in a nursing home within the county
of residence and would be otherwise unable to vote in person,
providing the county commission has authorized such services; and
(3) Any voter who is working as a replacement poll worker and
is assigned a precinct out of his or her voting district, if the assignment was made after the period for voting an absentee ballot
in person has expired.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
