SB 167

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 (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 senate 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.