115.287. Absentee ballot, how delivered.
Absentee ballot, how delivered.
115.287. 1. Upon receipt of a signed application for an absentee ballotand if satisfied the applicant is entitled to vote by absentee ballot, theelection authority shall, within three working days after receiving theapplication, or if absentee ballots are not available at the time theapplication is received, within five working days after they become available,deliver to the voter an absentee ballot, ballot envelope and such instructionsas are necessary for the applicant to vote. Delivery shall be made to thevoter personally in the office of the election authority or by bipartisanteams appointed by the election authority, or by first class, registered, orcertified mail at the discretion of the election authority. Where theelection authority is a county clerk, the members of bipartisan teamsrepresenting the political party other than that of county clerk shall beselected from a list of persons submitted to the county clerk by the countychairman of that party. If no list is provided by the time that absenteeballots are to be made available, the county clerk may select a person orpersons from lists provided in accordance with section 115.087. If theelection authority is not satisfied that any applicant is entitled to vote byabsentee ballot, it shall not deliver an absentee ballot to the applicant.Within three working days of receiving such an application, the electionauthority shall notify the applicant and state the reason he or she is notentitled to vote by absentee ballot. The applicant may appeal the decision ofthe election authority to the circuit court in the manner provided in section115.223.
2. If, after 5:00 p.m. on the Wednesday before an election, any voterfrom the jurisdiction has become hospitalized, becomes confined due to illnessor injury, or is confined in an adult boarding facility, intermediate carefacility, residential care facility*, or skilled nursing facility, as definedin section 198.006, RSMo, in the county in which the jurisdiction is locatedor in the jurisdiction or an adjacent election authority within the samecounty, the election authority shall appoint a team to deliver, witness thesigning of and return the voter's application and deliver, witness the votingof and return the voter's absentee ballot. In counties with a charter form ofgovernment and in cities not within a county, and in each city which has overthree hundred thousand inhabitants, and is situated in more than one county,if the election authority receives ten or more applications for absenteeballots from the same address it may appoint a team to deliver and witness thevoting and return of absentee ballots by voters residing at that address,except when such addresses are for an apartment building or other structurewherein individual living units are located, each of which has its ownseparate cooking facilities. Each team appointed pursuant to this subsectionshall consist of two registered voters, one from each major political party.Both members of any team appointed pursuant to this subsection shall bepresent during the delivery, signing or voting and return of any applicationor absentee ballot signed or voted pursuant to this subsection.
3. On the mailing and ballot envelopes for each applicant in federalservice, the election authority shall stamp prominently in black the words"FEDERAL BALLOT, STATE OF MISSOURI" and "U.S. Postage Paid, 39 U.S.C. 3406".
4. No information which encourages a vote for or against a candidate orissue shall be provided to any voter with an absentee ballot.
(L. 1977 H.B. 101 § 9.030, A.L. 1982 S.B. 526, A.L. 1983 S.B. 234, A.L. 1985 H.B. 620, A.L. 1988 H.B. 933, et al., A.L. 2002 S.B. 675, A.L. 2003 H.B. 511)*Revisor's note: The term "residential care facility" may include "assisted living facility", see section 198.005 regarding changes to name reference.