15-120 - Absentee voting at village elections.
§ 15-120. Absentee voting at village elections. 1. A qualified elector of a village may vote as an absentee voter under this section if during all the hours of voting on the day of a general or special village election he will be: (a) Unavoidably absent from the county in which his residence is located because: i. he is a member of the armed forces of the United States of America; or ii. he is a student matriculated at an institution of learning located outside such county; or iii. he is a patient at a veterans administration hospital; or iv. his duties, occupation or business require him to be so absent, provided, however, such absence is not caused by the fact that his regular and daily place of business is located outside of said county. (b) Absent from the county in which his residence is located because he is on vacation outside said county. (c) He is the spouse, parent or child of, and resides in the same household with, a person qualified under any of the foregoing paragraphs of this subdivision and will also be absent from said county by reason of accompanying the person so qualified. 2. Each person entitled to vote as an absentee voter pursuant to this section and desirous of obtaining an absentee ballot shall make written application therefor to the village clerk. Application forms for use pursuant to this section shall be in a form prescribed by the state board of elections. The use of any application which is on a form prescribed by the state board of elections shall be acceptable. 3. An application for an absentee ballot must be signed by the applicant. Such application may require that the applicant submit a certificate in lieu of any affidavit which shall state that the information contained in the application is true. Such certificate shall be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit and shall have the following language printed in bold face type above the signature line: "I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CERTIFICATE WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR ALL PURPOSES AS THE EQUIVALENT OF AN AFFIDAVIT AND, IF IT CONTAINS A MATERIAL FALSE STATEMENT, SHALL SUBJECT ME TO THE SAME PENALTIES AS IF I HAD BEEN DULY SWORN." 4. An application must be received by the village clerk no earlier than four months before the election for which an absentee ballot is sought. If the application requests that the absentee ballot be mailed, such application must be received not later than seven days before the election. If the applicant or his agent delivers the application to the village clerk in person, such application must be received not later than the day before the election. The village clerk shall examine each application and shall determine from the information contained therein whether the applicant is qualified under this section to receive an absentee ballot. The clerk in making such decision shall not determine whether the applicant is a qualified elector, said determination being reserved to the inspectors of election as is hereinafter provided in subdivision eight of this section. 5. No later than six days before the election for which an application has been received and for which the village clerk has determined the applicant to be qualified to vote by absentee ballot the village clerk shall mail, by regular mail, an absentee ballot to each qualified applicant who has applied before such day and who has requested that such absentee ballot be mailed to him at the address set forth in his application. If the applicant or his agent delivers the application to the village clerk in person after the seventh day before the villageelection and not later than the day before the election, the village clerk shall forthwith deliver such absentee ballots for those applicants whom he determines are qualified to make such applications and to receive such ballots to such applicants or the agents named in the applications when such applicants or agents appear in the village clerk's office. 6. The absentee ballot shall be caused to be prepared and printed by the village clerk as provided by law for paper ballots or machine ballots, whichever are to be used in said election and appropriate modifications for the purposes of this section. He shall also cause to be prepared and printed return envelopes addressed to him, conforming so far as may be practicable to the provisions of this chapter stating thereon that in order for the ballot contained therein to be counted it must be received by the village clerk not later than the close of the polls on election day. On the reverse side of each return envelope there shall be written instructions for the voter to insert at designated places his signature, his name printed, his residence address within the village and his village election district if there be more than one district within the village. 7. The method of marking, preparing and mailing such ballot for voting shall conform, wherever practicable, to the methods used for absentee ballots for a general election, except that the envelope in which it is contained shall be returned to the village clerk. On the day of the election, the village clerk shall deliver all such ballots, which have been returned to him, in the sealed envelopes to the board of inspectors of election of the proper election district. No such ballot shall be deemed to have been voted unless or until it shall have been delivered to the board of inspectors of election of the election district in which the elector casting the ballot resides and shall have been deposited by the chairman of such board in the box provided for receiving such ballot. 8. When such ballots shall have been delivered to the board of inspectors of election of the proper election district and shall have been duly determined by such board to have been lawfully cast by a qualified elector of such district, the chairman of such board shall, after the close of the polls, open the envelopes containing such ballots and, without unfolding such ballots or permitting the face thereof to be exposed to the view of anyone, shall deposit each such ballot in a box specifically furnished for such purpose by the village clerk. If the board of inspectors shall determine that any such ballot has been cast by an elector who would not be qualified under the provisions of this section, then such ballot shall not be counted. 9. After all the ballots shall have been deposited, the box shall be opened and such ballots canvassed in the same manner as other ballots cast at such election and shall be counted and included in the total of all ballots cast at such election.