Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 097-0275
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Public Act 097-0275


 

Public Act 0275 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 097-0275
 
SB0098 EnrolledLRB097 00015 JAM 40070 b

    AN ACT concerning elections.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing
Sections 19-12.1 and 19-12.2 as follows:
 
    (10 ILCS 5/19-12.1)  (from Ch. 46, par. 19-12.1)
    Sec. 19-12.1. Any qualified elector who has secured an
Illinois Disabled Person Identification Card in accordance
with The Illinois Identification Card Act, indicating that the
person named thereon has a Class 1A or Class 2 disability or
any qualified voter who has a permanent physical incapacity of
such a nature as to make it improbable that he will be able to
be present at the polls at any future election, or any voter
who is a resident of (i) a federally operated veterans' home,
hospital, or facility located in Illinois or (ii) a facility
licensed or certified pursuant to the Nursing Home Care Act or
the MR/DD Community Care Act and has a condition or disability
of such a nature as to make it improbable that he will be able
to be present at the polls at any future election, may secure a
disabled voter's or nursing home resident's identification
card, which will enable him to vote under this Article as a
physically incapacitated or nursing home voter. For the
purposes of this Section, "federally operated veterans' home,
hospital, or facility" means the long-term care facilities at
the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Illiana Health Care System,
Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, Marion VA Medical Center, and
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.
    Application for a disabled voter's or nursing home
resident's identification card shall be made either: (a) in
writing, with voter's sworn affidavit, to the county clerk or
board of election commissioners, as the case may be, and shall
be accompanied by the affidavit of the attending physician
specifically describing the nature of the physical incapacity
or the fact that the voter is a nursing home resident and is
physically unable to be present at the polls on election days;
or (b) by presenting, in writing or otherwise, to the county
clerk or board of election commissioners, as the case may be,
proof that the applicant has secured an Illinois Disabled
Person Identification Card indicating that the person named
thereon has a Class 1A or Class 2 disability. Upon the receipt
of either the sworn-to application and the physician's
affidavit or proof that the applicant has secured an Illinois
Disabled Person Identification Card indicating that the person
named thereon has a Class 1A or Class 2 disability, the county
clerk or board of election commissioners shall issue a disabled
voter's or nursing home resident's identification card. Such
identification cards shall be issued for a period of 5 years,
upon the expiration of which time the voter may secure a new
card by making application in the same manner as is prescribed
for the issuance of an original card, accompanied by a new
affidavit of the attending physician. The date of expiration of
such five-year period shall be made known to any interested
person by the election authority upon the request of such
person. Applications for the renewal of the identification
cards shall be mailed to the voters holding such cards not less
than 3 months prior to the date of expiration of the cards.
    Each disabled voter's or nursing home resident's
identification card shall bear an identification number, which
shall be clearly noted on the voter's original and duplicate
registration record cards. In the event the holder becomes
physically capable of resuming normal voting, he must surrender
his disabled voter's or nursing home resident's identification
card to the county clerk or board of election commissioners
before the next election.
    The holder of a disabled voter's or nursing home resident's
identification card may make application by mail for an
official ballot within the time prescribed by Section 19-2.
Such application shall contain the same information as is
included in the form of application for ballot by a physically
incapacitated elector prescribed in Section 19-3 except that it
shall also include the applicant's disabled voter's
identification card number and except that it need not be sworn
to. If an examination of the records discloses that the
applicant is lawfully entitled to vote, he shall be mailed a
ballot as provided in Section 19-4. The ballot envelope shall
be the same as that prescribed in Section 19-5 for physically
disabled voters, and the manner of voting and returning the
ballot shall be the same as that provided in this Article for
other absentee ballots, except that a statement to be
subscribed to by the voter but which need not be sworn to shall
be placed on the ballot envelope in lieu of the affidavit
prescribed by Section 19-5.
    Any person who knowingly subscribes to a false statement in
connection with voting under this Section shall be guilty of a
Class A misdemeanor.
    For the purposes of this Section, "nursing home resident"
includes a resident of (i) a federally operated veterans' home,
hospital, or facility located in Illinois or (ii) a facility
licensed under the MR/DD Community Care Act. For the purposes
of this Section, "federally operated veterans' home, hospital,
or facility" means the long-term care facilities at the Jesse
Brown VA Medical Center, Illiana Health Care System, Edward
Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, Marion VA Medical Center, and Captain
James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.
(Source: P.A. 96-339, eff. 7-1-10.)
 
    (10 ILCS 5/19-12.2)  (from Ch. 46, par. 19-12.2)
    Sec. 19-12.2. Voting by physically incapacitated electors
who have made proper application to the election authority not
later than 5 days before the regular primary and general
election of 1980 and before each election thereafter shall be
conducted on the premises of (i) federally operated veterans'
homes, hospitals, and facilities located in Illinois or (ii)
facilities licensed or certified pursuant to the Nursing Home
Care Act or the MR/DD Community Care Act for the sole benefit
of residents of such homes, hospitals, and facilities. For the
purposes of this Section, "federally operated veterans' home,
hospital, or facility" means the long-term care facilities at
the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Illiana Health Care System,
Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, Marion VA Medical Center, and
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. Such voting
shall be conducted during any continuous period sufficient to
allow all applicants to cast their ballots between the hours of
9 a.m. and 7 p.m. either on the Friday, Saturday, Sunday or
Monday immediately preceding the regular election. This
absentee voting on one of said days designated by the election
authority shall be supervised by two election judges who must
be selected by the election authority in the following order of
priority: (1) from the panel of judges appointed for the
precinct in which such home, hospital, or facility is located,
or from a panel of judges appointed for any other precinct
within the jurisdiction of the election authority in the same
ward or township, as the case may be, in which the home,
hospital, or facility is located or, only in the case where a
judge or judges from the precinct, township or ward are
unavailable to serve, (3) from a panel of judges appointed for
any other precinct within the jurisdiction of the election
authority. The two judges shall be from different political
parties. Not less than 30 days before each regular election,
the election authority shall have arranged with the chief
administrative officer of each home, hospital, or facility in
his or its election jurisdiction a mutually convenient time
period on the Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday immediately
preceding the election for such voting on the premises of the
home, hospital, or facility and shall post in a prominent place
in his or its office a notice of the agreed day and time period
for conducting such voting at each home, hospital, or facility;
provided that the election authority shall not later than noon
on the Thursday before the election also post the names and
addresses of those homes, hospitals, and facilities from which
no applications were received and in which no supervised
absentee voting will be conducted. All provisions of this Code
applicable to pollwatchers shall be applicable herein. To the
maximum extent feasible, voting booths or screens shall be
provided to insure the privacy of the voter. Voting procedures
shall be as described in Article 17 of this Code, except that
ballots shall be treated as absentee ballots and shall not be
counted until the close of the polls on the following day.
After the last voter has concluded voting, the judges shall
seal the ballots in an envelope and affix their signatures
across the flap of the envelope. Immediately thereafter, the
judges shall bring the sealed envelope to the office of the
election authority who shall deliver such ballots to the
election authority's central ballot counting location prior to
the closing of the polls on the day of election. The judges of
election shall also report to the election authority the name
of any applicant in the home, hospital, or facility who, due to
unforeseen circumstance or condition or because of a religious
holiday, was unable to vote. In this event, the election
authority may appoint a qualified person from his or its staff
to deliver the ballot to such applicant on the day of election.
This staff person shall follow the same procedures prescribed
for judges conducting absentee voting in such homes, hospitals,
or facilities and shall return the ballot to the central ballot
counting location before the polls close. However, if the home,
hospital, or facility from which the application was made is
also used as a regular precinct polling place for that voter,
voting procedures heretofore prescribed may be implemented by 2
of the election judges of opposite party affiliation assigned
to that polling place during the hours of voting on the day of
the election. Judges of election shall be compensated not less
than $25.00 for conducting absentee voting in such homes,
hospitals, or facilities.
    Not less than 120 days before each regular election, the
Department of Public Health shall certify to the State Board of
Elections a list of the facilities licensed or certified
pursuant to the Nursing Home Care Act or the MR/DD Community
Care Act. The lists , and shall indicate the approved bed
capacity and the name of the chief administrative officer of
each such home, hospital, or facility, and the State Board of
Elections shall certify the same to the appropriate election
authority within 20 days thereafter.
(Source: P.A. 96-339, eff. 7-1-10.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2012