Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §754-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 645, §7, is further amended to read:

§754-A. Method of voting

Except as provided in section 753-B, subsection 8, the method of voting by absentee ballot is as follows.

1. Ballot delivered to voter. When a voter or an immediate family member of a voter obtains a ballot from the clerk in person or by mail and returns that ballot to the clerk in person or by mail and receives no assistance in marking the ballot, the following procedures apply.

A. The voter shall mark that ballot according to section 691 or 692 so that it is impossible for anyone present at the time to see how the voter voted.

B. While the voter is marking the ballot, there may be no communication between the voter and any other individual as to the person or question for which the voter is to vote.

C. After the voter has completed marking the ballot, the voter shall then seal the ballot in its return envelope and complete the affidavit on the envelope. No notary or witness certification is required.

D. The voter or an immediate family member of the voter shall then mail or deliver in person the sealed envelope containing the voted ballot to the clerk of the municipality of which the voter is a resident. The voter shall send a completed voter registration or absentee ballot application, if necessary, in a separate envelope.

E. If an immediate family member of the voter returns an absentee ballot that was requested by the voter or another immediate family member of the voter, in writing or in person, the clerk shall accept the ballot. The clerk shall have the immediate family member who returned the ballot sign the application or written request and shall indicate that the ballot was returned by that person.

2. Ballot delivered by 3rd person or returned by 3rd person. When a ballot is delivered to the voter by a person other than the clerk or an immediate family member of the voter or is returned to the clerk by a person other than the voter, the