SB 272

Currently, any elector may challenge for cause the right of any other elector to

vote at a polling place if the challenger knows or suspects that the challenged elector

is not a qualified elector. The inspectors of election (poll workers) must then

administer oaths to both the challenger and the challenged elector concerning the

challenged elector's qualifications. If the inspectors receive the ballot of any elector

who has been challenged, they must mark the ballot with the elector's serial number.

If canvassing an election, a board of canvassers may review and decide any challenge

and may count or reject a challenged ballot accordingly. If a petition for a recount

is filed, the board of canvassers may again review and decide whether a challenged

ballot is cast by a qualified elector and may count or reject the ballot accordingly. An

elector may also challenge the ballot of an absent elector before the inspectors at a

polling place or before a board of absentee ballot canvassers in municipalities where

absent ballots are not canvassed at polling places. The challenged elector need not

be present when the challenge is made.

This bill provides that only an elector who resides in the same ward or election

district as the one in which a challenged elector resides may challenge the ballot of

that elector. The bill directs the inspectors or board of absentee ballot canvassers to

require the challenging elector to provide proof of residence, as defined by law, when

making a challenge.