A. After the close of the period for requesting a mailed ballot, any voter who is unable to go to the polls due to unforeseen illness or disability resulting in the voter's confinement in a hospital, sanatorium, nursing home or residence and who is unable to vote in person may request in writing that a provisional paper ballot be made available to the voter. The written request shall be signed by the voter and a health care provider under penalty of perjury.

B. The provisional paper ballot shall be made available by the county clerk of the county in which the voter resides to any authorized representative of the voter who through the representative has presented the written request to the office of the county clerk.

C. The voter shall mark the provisional paper ballot, place it in an identification envelope, fill out and sign the envelope and return the ballot to the office of the county clerk of the county in which the voter resides no later than the time of closing of the polls on election day. A provisional paper ballot issued pursuant to this section shall be qualified and tabulated once the county clerk determines that the person did not cast any other ballot and if no challenge is successfully interposed.

History: 1978 Comp., § 1-6-16.2, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 353, § 1; 1999, ch. 267, § 20; 2017, ch. 101, § 4; 2019, ch. 212, § 76.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, changed "absentee ballot" to "mailed "ballot", and removed a provision related to providing a provisional paper ballot and the circumstances under which the county clerk is required to reject the request for a provisional paper ballot; in Subsection A, after "requesting", deleted "absentee ballots by mail" and added "a mailed ballot"; and deleted former Subsection C and redesignated former Subsection D as Subsection C.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, revised the emergency procedures for voting in cases where the voter is unable to vote in person after the close of the period for requesting an absentee ballot by mail; in Subsection A, after "who is unable to vote", deleted "at his regular polling place or alternate location" and added "in person", and after "may request in writing that", deleted "an alternative" and added "a provisional paper"; in Subsection B, after "The", deleted "alternative" and added "provisional paper", and added "county" preceding each occurrence of "clerk"; in Subsection C, after "releasing the", deleted "alternative" and added "provisional paper", deleted "he" and added "the county clerk", and after "reject the request for", deleted "an alternative" and added "a provisional paper"; in Subsection D, after "voter shall mark the", deleted "alternative" and added "provisional paper", after "identification envelope", deleted "similar to that used for absentee ballots", after "office of the", added "county", deleted the last sentence of the paragraph, which related to verifying the signature of the voter on the provisional paper ballot, and added the current last sentence of the paragraph; and deleted Subsections E and F.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, substituted "regular polling place or alternate location" for "polling place, voting booth, or voting apparatus or machinery" in Subsection A.