19:63-11 Ballots marked "Official Mail-In Ballot."

11. a. Each mail-in ballot to be used at any election shall conform generally to the ballot to be used at the election in the voter's district but the ballots shall be clearly marked "Official Mail-In Ballot."

At the top of every mail-in ballot there shall be printed or stamped in a prominent size the following:

To protect your vote:

IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR ANYONE EXCEPT YOU THE VOTER TO MARK OR INSPECT THIS BALLOT.

However, a family member may assist you in doing so.

b. Each mail-in ballot to be used pursuant to this act shall be printed entirely in black ink. In addition to conforming generally to the ballot used in the election, the mail-in ballot shall be so prepared that the voter may indicate on it the voter's choice of the candidates for the offices to be filled, and the public questions to be voted on at the election by the voters of the entire State, county or municipality in which the voter is a resident, as known on the 48th day preceding the election. Sufficient space shall be provided on the ballot for the voter to write in the name of and vote for any candidate for, or the voter's personal choice for, any public office to be voted for at the election in the voter's election district. A list of the candidates for the offices to be filled in each election district in the county, whose names are known on the day on which the ballot is forwarded but do not appear on the ballot, with a statement of the office for which each is a candidate, shall be forwarded with such ballot.

When mail-in ballots are prepared, the name of any candidate who has been nominated for any office shall be placed on the ballot to be used in the general election to be held in the year in each election district in which he is a candidate, whether or not such candidate has accepted nomination prior to when the ballot was prepared, provided that the candidate has not declined the nomination before the ballot was prepared.

c. Each mail-in ballot to be used at any primary election for the general election shall, except as otherwise provided, conform to the ballot to be used at the election in the voter's election district and to the form herein prescribed for mail-in ballots to be used in such general elections. It shall be prepared so that the voter may indicate the voter's choice of the candidates of one political party for each of the officers to be voted on at the election by the voters of the election district and shall be separated into party ballots, which shall be printed upon one sheet when the voting system so allows.

Each such mail-in ballot shall be plainly marked to indicate that only one party ballot is to be voted by each voter and that the party ballot voted by the voter must conform to the name of the political party indicated by the county clerk.

If the county clerk has determined by investigating a voter's registration record that the voter is qualified to vote only in the primary of a particular party, the clerk shall so note on the primary ballot the party primary in which the voter is entitled to vote.

In the case where the county clerk has ascertained through investigating the voter's registration record that such applicant is requesting a ballot to vote in the first primary for which the voter is eligible after registration, the clerk shall note on the primary ballot that the voter can vote in the primary of any political party.

d. Any county may adopt a system of electronic scanning, or other mechanical or electronic device if the system has been approved previously by the Secretary of State to count or canvass mail-in ballots. The county clerk in any county adopting such a system may prepare and use mail-in ballots that do not conform generally to the ballot to be used at the election to the extent that such nonconformance is necessary in the operation of the electronic or mechanical canvassing system.

L.2009, c.79, s.11; amended 2011, c.134, s.52.