7.70.060 Absentee voting – By mail.
A. A qualified voter may apply for an absentee ballot by mail if postmarked not earlier than the first (1st) of the year in which the election is to be held, nor less than ten (10) calendar days before an election. A request may be accepted by facsimile.
B. All applications for an absentee ballot by mail shall be in writing either on a form provided by the clerk’s office or in a letter containing the following information:
1. The applicant’s place of residence;
2. The address to which the applicant desires the absentee ballot to be mailed;
3. The applicant’s signature; and
4. A voter identifier such as voter number, a Social Security number, or date of birth.
C. After receipt of an application by mail, the clerk shall deliver to the applicant, at the mailing address given in the application, an official ballot for the election and other absentee voting material by regular first-class mail. The materials shall be sent as soon as they are ready for distribution. The return envelope sent with the materials shall be addressed to the city clerk.
D. At any time on or before the day of the election, any voter receiving an absentee ballot by mail may vote the ballot. The voted ballot shall then be placed in the secrecy sleeve, which is then placed in the return envelope, and the voter shall sign the certification on the return envelope and have it witnessed in the presence of:
1. An authorized official such as a notary public, U.S. Postmaster or authorized postal clerk, commissioned military officer, judge, justice, magistrate, clerk of the court, a duly appointed voter registrar, or election official as defined in BMC 7.10.020; or
2. If none of the officials listed in subsection (D)(1) of this section are reasonably accessible, an absentee voter shall sign the voter’s certificate in the presence of an individual who is eighteen (18) years of age or older. In addition, the voter shall certify, as prescribed in AS 09.63.020, under penalty of perjury, that the statements in the voter’s certification are true.
E. After witnessing the absentee voter’s signature, the official or witness shall attest to the date on which the voter signed the certificate in the individual’s presence, and return the voted ballot to the voter who shall mail or otherwise deliver the ballot to the clerk. A precinct election official shall deliver the voted absentee ballots to the clerk. The clerk shall deliver the voted absentee ballots to the canvass board for canvassing.
F. The clerk may require a voter casting an absentee ballot by mail to provide proof of identification or other information to aid in the establishment of their identity.
G. The clerk shall maintain a record of the name of each voter to whom an absentee ballot is sent by mail. The record must list the date on which the ballot is mailed, the date on which the ballot is received by the city clerk and the date on which the ballot was executed and postmarked.
H. Prior to the election, the clerk shall give the election board a list of voters from the city who have been issued absentee by-mail ballots. If a voter who was issued an absentee ballot by mail returns to the voter’s precinct on election day, the voter may not vote a regular ballot at the polling place unless the voter first surrenders to the election board the absentee ballot, ballot envelope and return envelope issued to the voter. If the absentee voter does not have the absentee ballot to surrender, the voter may vote a questioned ballot. Surrendered absentee ballots, ballot envelopes and return envelopes collected by the election board shall be returned to the clerk.
I. To be counted in the election, absentee by-mail ballots shall be postmarked on or before election day and must be received by the clerk no later than 6:00 p.m. two (2) calendar days following the election. Absentee by-mail ballot envelopes received by the clerk after the deadline shall not be opened, shall be marked invalid with the date of the receipt noted thereon and shall not be counted. [Ord. 20-17 § 2, 2020; Ord. 11-13 § 2.]