Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that expands access to mail-in voting permanently.

Highlights:

• Defines “ballot drop box” as a secure, durable, weatherproof container that is officially designed by a local board for voters to deposit completed absentee ballots in person (Sec. 1-1–101.D-1).

• Requires the state Board of Elections to establish guidelines for the administration of absentee voting by the local boards (Sec. 1-9–303.a).

• Requires the state board to adopt regulations allowing a local board to do the following (Sec. 1-11–302-4.I):

• Notify a voter of a problem with a voter’s absentee ballot that would cause the ballot to be rejected but which is capable of being corrected by the voter; and

• Provide the voter an opportunity to correct the problem and have the ballot counted.

• Specify these regulations will allow a voter to do the following (Sec. 1-11–302-4.II):

• Supply a signature if the voter failed to sign the oath on the ballot envelope; and

• Choose among multiple methods of communicating with the local board to correct a problem with the voter’s absentee ballot, including:

• Text message;

• An accessible online portal;

• A mailed form; and

• An in-person visit to the local board office;

• Prohibits a person from doing the following (Sec. 1-16–805.A):

• Removing, defacing, damaging, destroying, or preventing the correct operation of a ballot drop box; or

• Except for servicing by an authorized person, unlock any locked compartment of a ballot drop box unless instructed to do so by the election director of the local board for the county in which the ballot drop box is located.

• Requires the State Board of Elections to contract with a usability consultant on before August 1, 2021, to review all the public informational materials and forms related to mail–in voting produced by the State Board (Sec. 2.A).

• Authorizes the consultant to make specific usability recommendations concerning (Sec. 2-2):

• The information related to mail–in voting that appears on the State Board’s website;

• All materials mailed to voters who choose to vote by mail, including envelopes, forms, and instructions; and

• The system allowing a voter to access information concerning the voter’s mailed–in ballot.

Full Bill Text