(a) A military or overseas voter who is living outside of the territorial limits of the United States or the District of Columbia, or is called for military service within the United States on or after the final date to make application for a vote by mail ballot, may return his or her ballot by facsimile transmission. To be counted, the ballot returned by facsimile transmission shall be received by the voter’s elections official no later than the closing of the polls on election day and shall be accompanied by an identification envelope containing all of the information required by Section 3011 and an oath of voter declaration in substantially the following form:

“OATH OF VOTER

I,, acknowledge that by returning my voted

My residence address (last U.S. residence for voter qualification purposes) is(Street Address) _____ _____ (City) _____ _____ (ZIP Code).

My current mailing address is(Street Address) _____ (City) _____ _____ (ZIP Code).

My email address is _________________. My facsimile transmissionnumber is _________________.

I am a resident of __________ County, State of California, or am qualified as an elector pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 321 of the Elections Code and I have not applied, nor intend to apply, for a vote by mail ballot from any other jurisdiction for the same election.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

Dated this __________ day of ______, 20_____.

(Signature)

(voter)(power of attorney cannot be accepted)

YOUR BALLOT CANNOT BE COUNTED UNLESS YOU SIGN THEABOVE OATH AND INCLUDE IT WITH YOUR BALLOT ANDIDENTIFICATION ENVELOPE, ALL OF WHICH ARE RETURNEDBY FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION.”

(b) Notwithstanding the voter’s waiver of the right to a secret ballot, each elections official shall adopt appropriate procedures to protect the secrecy of ballots returned by facsimile transmission.

(c) Upon receipt of a ballot returned by facsimile transmission, the elections official shall determine the voter’s eligibility to vote by comparing the signature on the return information with the signature on the voter’s affidavit of registration or any signature permitted for comparison under Section 3019. The ballot shall be duplicated and all materials preserved according to procedures set forth in this code.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a military or overseas voter who is permitted to return his or her ballot by facsimile transmission is, nonetheless, encouraged to return his or her ballot by mail or in person if possible. A military or overseas voter should return a ballot by facsimile transmission only if doing so is necessary for the ballot to be received before the close of polls on election day.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 731, Sec. 2. (AB 1535) Effective January 1, 2016.)