1. When the return envelope containing the completed absentee ballot is received by the commissioner, the commissioner shall at once record receipt of such ballot. Absentee ballots shall be stored in a secure place until they are delivered to the absentee and special voters precinct board.
2. If the commissioner receives the return envelope containing the completed absentee ballot by 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the election for general and primary elections and by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election for all other elections, the commissioner shall open the envelope to review the affidavit for completeness. If the affidavit is incomplete, the commissioner shall, within twenty-four hours of the time the envelope was received, notify the voter of that fact and that the voter may complete the affidavit in person at the office of the commissioner by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election, vote a replacement ballot in the manner and within the time period provided in subsection 3, or appear at the voter’s precinct polling place on election day and cast a ballot in accordance with section 53.19, subsection 3.
3. If the affidavit envelope contains a defect that would cause the absentee ballot to be rejected by the absentee and special voters precinct board, the commissioner shall immediately notify the voter of that fact and that the voter’s absentee ballot shall not be counted unless the voter requests and returns a replacement ballot in the time permitted under section 53.17, subsection 2. The voter may request a replacement ballot in person, in writing, or over the telephone. The same serial number that was assigned to the records of the original absentee ballot application shall be used on the envelope and records of the replacement ballot. The affidavit envelope containing the completed replacement ballot shall be marked “Replacement ballot”. The affidavit envelope containing the original ballot shall be marked “Defective” and the replacement ballot shall be attached to the affidavit envelope containing the original ballot and shall be stored in a secure place until they are delivered to the absentee and special voters precinct board, notwithstanding sections 53.26 and 53.27.
4. The state commissioner of elections shall adopt rules for implementation of this section.
89 Acts, ch 136, §52; 91 Acts, ch 129, §20; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §67, 115; 2007 Acts, ch 215, §229; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §65; 2010 Acts, ch 1026, §13
Referred to in