An Act To Amend the State Election Laws

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §783, sub-§5,  as enacted by PL 2009, c. 563, §9, is amended to read:

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §809-A, sub-§1-A,  as amended by PL 2007, c. 455, §50, is further amended to read:

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §809-A, sub-§3,  as enacted by PL 2003, c. 651, §4, is amended to read:

SUMMARY

This bill makes the following changes to the election laws.

1. It allows the Secretary of State to accept voted absentee ballots from uniformed service voters and overseas voters by an electronic means authorized by the Secretary of State.

2. It allows for the connection of individual voting devices to a central server operated or managed by the Secretary of State for voting systems equipped for individuals with disabilities by other than a wired, point-to-point telephone connection.

3. It allows for the use of the Internet to provide a ballot-marking system or software that is used for voters with disabilities, uniformed service voters or overseas voters to mark a ballot and transmit the marked ballot online, as long as the system or software does not tabulate the ballots or transmit the ballot tabulations online.