A member of the armed forces who is an elector or an applicant for admission as an elector, or the member's spouse or dependent if living where such member is stationed, may apply before a regular election for a blank absentee ballot to vote for all offices being contested at the election. The clerk shall make such ballots available for this purpose beginning not earlier than ninety days before the election. Application shall be made upon a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State or on the federal postcard application form provided pursuant to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 100 Stat. 924, 42 USC 1973ff et seq., as amended from time to time, or any other applicable law and shall be issued only if the applicant states that due to military contingencies the regular application procedure, as set forth in section 9-140, cannot be followed. Upon receipt of the application, the municipal clerk shall issue the ballot either by mail or electronic means, as requested by the elector, which shall be prescribed and provided by the Secretary of the State, and a list of the offices to be voted upon indicating the number of individuals for which each elector may vote. As soon as a complete list of nominated candidates, including the party designations of such candidates, and questions is available, the clerk shall send such list to each applicant. If the list of candidates and questions is not available when the ballot is issued, the clerk shall include a statement indicating that such list shall be mailed as soon as it becomes available. The ballot shall permit the elector to vote by writing in the names of specific candidates and offices for which he is voting. The elector may also vote on the questions in a manner prescribed by the Secretary of the State. If such ballot is issued by electronic means, the clerk shall include a certification prescribed by the Secretary of the State that the elector shall be required to complete, sign and return with the completed ballot in order for such ballot to be counted. If the military contingency no longer exists, application for an additional ballot for all offices may be made pursuant to the provisions of section 9-153b.

(P.A. 78-94, S. 1, 2; P.A. 84-319, S. 45, 49; P.A. 86-179, S. 26, 53; P.A. 87-382, S. 13, 55; P.A. 93-30, S. 12, 14; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 10-1, S. 38.)

History: P.A. 84-319 amended section to provide for special ninety-day ballot; P.A. 86-179 made technical changes and deleted provision re write-in of name of candidate which is printed on ballot; Sec. 9-143a transferred to Sec. 9-153e in 1987; P.A. 87-382 provided for absentee ballot to be blank, instead of containing titles of contested offices, added provisions re issuance of list of offices to be voted upon and list of candidates and repealed provision permitting elector to vote by writing in a party preference; P.A. 93-30 updated reference to federal act, effective July 1, 1993; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 10-1 added provisions re issuance of ballot either by mail or electronic means, effective June 22, 2010.