BILL NUMBER: S3045A

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the election law, in relation to
canvass of ballots

 
PURPOSE:

This bill provides that the Board Of Elections shall cast and canvas any
ballot in which a voter was entitled to vote, so long as such voter
"substantially complied" with the requirements of filling out an absen-
tee, military, special ballots and ballots cast by voters with registra-
tion poll records missing, i.e., affidavit ballots.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Adds authorization to the Board Of Elections that empowers them to cast
and canvas any ballot in which a voter was entitled to vote, so long as
such voter "substantially complied" with the requirements of filling out
an absentee, military, special ballot and/or a ballot cast by a voter
with registration poll records missing, i.e., affidavit ballots.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill ensures that the votes of individuals who are entitled to vote
at elections will be cast so long as there is substantial compliance
with the requirements to obtain such a ballot, like the filling out of
paperwork, or the cataloguing of past addresses.

This bill is necessary because the current law is of exploited by those
seeking to invalidate ballots by employing hyper-technical legal chal-
lenges to ballots in an all-too-often successful effort to deny a person
their constitutional right to vote.

This language will allow the validity of the ballot to be determined
based upon compliance with the language of the statute and the actions
and intentions of the voter, without limiting the state's ability to
protect against voter fraud.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Similar Bill: S 1265 COMRIE Same as A 7484 Cahill (MS).

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S3045B

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the election law, in relation to
canvass of ballots cast by certain voters

 
PURPOSE:

This bill provides that the Board Of Elections shall cast and canvas any
affidavit ballot in an election within which a voter was entitled to
vote, so long as such voter "substantially complied" with the require-
ments of filling out the ballot. Furthermore, failure to include the
registrants previous address shall not be a fatal defect.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill authorizes the Board Of Elections to cast and canvas any affi-
davit ballot in an election within which a voter was entitled to vote,
so long as such voter "substantially complied" with the requirements of
filling out the ballot. Furthermore, failure to include the registrants
previous address shall not be a fatal defect.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill ensures that the votes of individuals who are entitled to vote
at elections-and do so via an affidavit ballot-will be cast so long as
there is substantial compliance with the requirements to obtain such a
ballot, like the filling out of paperwork, or the cataloguing of past
addresses. Furthermore, if a voter does not fully identify the address
at which they were previously registered, this cannot be considered a
material defect and such vote must be cast and canvassed.

This bill is necessary because the current law is often exploited by
those seeking to invalidate ballots by employing hyper-technical legal
challenges to ballots in an all-too-often successful effort to deny a
person their constitutional right to vote.

This language will allow the validity of the ballot to be determined
based upon compliance with the language of the statute and the actions
and intentions of the voter, without limiting the state's ability to
protect against voter fraud.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Similar Bill: S 1265 COMRIE Same as A 7484 Cahill (MS).

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.