5.1.6.030 Voting by Absentee Ballot.

(a) Eligibility. Any eligible voter who meets at least one of the following requirements shall be entitled to vote in any election by absentee ballot:

(1) The voter is age fifty-five (55) or older and is homebound and unable to appear physically at the polling place on the date of the election; or

(2) The voter is an out-of-state college student or in the military and unable to appear physically at the polling place on the date of the election.

(b) Requesting An Absentee Ballot.

(1) The eligible voter must request an absentee ballot by submitting a written request, either in the form of a letter or completed Absentee Ballot Request form, to the Election Commission. All requests must be signed by the requesting voter. The voter may be asked for proof they meet the eligibility requirements.

(2) The voter may request an absentee ballot by submitting the written request to the Election Commission either by hand-delivery to the Election Commission office, mail to the Election Commission's listed address, or emailing a scanned request to the Election Commission's listed email address.

(3) All absentee ballot requests must be received by the Election Commission no later than 4:30 p.m. on the 15th day before the date of the Election. Requests that are not received by the deadline or that do not meet any of the requirements will not be accepted or processed. It is the sole responsibility of the requesting voter to ensure that the voter's mailing address is correct on their written request.

(A) In the event of a Special Election to fill a vacancy in an elected position, an eligible voter may request an absentee ballot up to 12:00 noon the day before the Special Election. However, due to the short timeframe of the Special Election, the Election Commission cannot guarantee that the requesting voter will timely receive the absentee ballot or that the returned ballot will be received by the Election Commission by the deadline and voters are encouraged to submit absentee ballot requests as early as possible.

(c) The voter shall complete the absentee ballot and return the absentee ballot in accordance with the stated instructions. Ballots may be returned by U.S. mail, private delivery service, or by hand-delivery to the Election Commission office.

(d) The deadline for receipt of cast absentee ballots shall be 4:30p.m. on the day before the election.

(e) Absentee ballots that do not bear the voter's signature or are not properly enclosed in the envelopes or do not meet the requirements to cast an absentee ballot or are received after the stated deadline shall not be opened, processed or counted.