SB 887

Under current law, absentee voting in person inside residential care facilities

and qualified retirement homes may be conducted only if the municipal clerk or

board of election commissioners adopts procedures allowing voters residing in such

a facility or home to apply for, receive, and complete an absentee ballot by means of

special voting deputies dispatched to the facility or home for that purpose. A

municipality that appoints special voting deputies must appoint at least two special

voting deputies for the municipality and the deputies must be eligible voters of the

county where the municipality is located. In addition, the two deputies designated

to visit each qualified retirement home and residential care facility must be affiliated

with different political parties whenever deputies representing different parties are

available.

Under current law, the special voting deputies must, not later than 5 p.m. on

the sixth working day preceding an election, arrange with the administrator of the

qualified retirement home or residential care facility one or more convenient times

to visit the home or facility. The administrator of the home or facility may, upon the

request of a relative of an occupant of the home or facility notify the relative of the

time or times at which special voting deputies will conduct absentee voting at the

home or facility. Current law also requires that the visits may be no earlier than the

fourth Monday preceding the election and no later than 5 p.m. on the Monday

preceding the election.

Under the bill, each administrator of a qualified retirement home or residential

care facility must consult with the municipal clerk, no later than November 1 of the

even-numbered year, to establish a written plan ensuring that residents of the home

or facility are able to vote using special voting deputies. In addition, the bill requires

the administrator to provide a copy of the plan to all individuals designated as a

contact by the occupants of the home or facility. Under current law, the administrator

of a home or facility must notify a resident's relative of the times at which special

voting deputies will conduct absentee voting at the home or facility and permit the

relative to be present in the room where the voting is conducted. Under the bill, the

administrator must provide the same notice to each individual designated as a

contact by the resident and permit each such individual to be present in the room

where the voting is conducted. In addition, the bill authorizes the Department of

Health Services to revoke any permit or license that DHS has issued to the home or

facility if the administrator of the home or facility fails to provide the notices

described under current law and under the bill.