Absentee & provisional ballots; process & timing for rejected applications, rejected prov. ballots.

Elections; absentee and provisional ballots; process and timing for rejected absentee ballot applications, returned absentee ballots, and rejected provisional ballots. Requires the general registrar to promptly notify a voter by telephone or email of an error or omission on the provisional ballot form and to provide information to the voter on how to correct the issue so his ballot may be counted if the electoral board determines that such voter who submitted a provisional vote was not entitled to vote as a result of a material error or omission on the provisional ballot form. The voter is entitled to make such necessary corrections before noon on the Monday after the election.

The bill also requires the list of absentee ballot applicants to be updated daily and to include whether each application has been accepted or rejected and, if it has been rejected, the reason for rejection or, if it has been accepted, the status of the absentee ballot. Registrars are also required to enter such information into the voter registration system, and such information is required to be made available to voters via a free-access system made available by the Department of Elections. The bill removes the requirement that absentee ballots be received by the Friday immediately preceding the day of the election for the general registrar to implement the process of curing errors or failures in such absentee ballots.

The bill also moves the deadline for curing errors or omissions in absentee ballot applications from noon on the third day after the election to noon on the Monday after the election. Finally, the bill requires the Department to issue guidance to local election officials on the uniform processing and counting of provisional ballots. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2026.