§1404. Ballots; distribution; vote; return; counting; rejection

A.(1) The director shall arrange the names of the candidates in alphabetical order and shall assign a number to each. He shall place the name of each candidate who meets the requirements for candidacy in alphabetical order on the ballot, together with the number assigned to each. The ballot shall be uniform.

(2) Not later than seven days after the final day for the filing of nomination petitions, he shall cause to be delivered to the appointing authority of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections one official ballot, one signature slip, one official ballot envelope, and one postage paid return envelope that is preprinted addressed to the director for each such employee whose name appears on the employment rolls thirty days prior to the date on which the call for the election is issued. The appointing authority shall initiate distribution of the voting materials immediately upon receipt. Each person shall cast his vote out of the presence of any other person.

(3) The marked ballot shall be sealed in the ballot envelope and shall be placed along with the signature slip containing the signature and social security number of the employee in the return envelope and returned to the director. No identifying mark, except for the required signature and social security number, shall be placed on the signature slip, and the ballot shall not be valid unless the signature slip is signed by the voter. The ballots shall be returned to the director on or before a date fixed by the director, which date shall be not less than ten nor more than fifteen days after distribution of the ballots to the appointing authority.

B. All ballots shall be counted under the direction of a ballot oversight committee composed of one classified state police officer named by each candidate and such additional number of classified state police officers, named by each candidate, as the director determines is necessary to complete the count.

C. Following a verification process determined by the director, the ballots shall be placed in one or more ballot boxes which shall be furnished by the director. Beginning on the day after the date fixed by the director as the last day for return of the ballots, the ballot oversight committee shall begin its count of the ballots by opening the ballots contained in the ballot boxes. The count of the ballots shall be completed within three days after the date fixed by the director as the last day for return of the ballots.

D. Any ballot which is not timely returned, or which is returned improperly signed, shall be marked "Rejected" by the ballot oversight committee and shall not be counted by the ballot oversight committee. In addition, the ballot oversight committee shall reject any ballot upon which the name of more than one candidate is marked.

Acts 1990, No. 788, §1, eff. Nov. 7, 1990; Acts 1999, No. 513, §1.