An Act To Allow Voters To Choose Ongoing Absentee Voter Status
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0753
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: FECTEAU, DESCHAMBAULT, DAUGHTRY
Amends: 21-A MRSA §753-A, 21-A MRSA §753-B, 21-A MRSA §754-A

Legislative Document
No. 753
H.P. 558
House of Representatives, February 11, 2019
An Act To Allow Voters To Choose Ongoing Absentee Voter Status
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative FECTEAU of Biddeford.
Cosponsored by Senator DESCHAMBAULT of York and
Representative: DAUGHTRY of Brunswick.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §753-A, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7.  Application for ongoing absentee voter status.  A voter may apply, in writing, 
for status as an ongoing absentee voter in a municipality that has approved the use of 
ongoing absentee voter status.  Each qualified applicant must automatically receive an 
absentee ballot for each ensuing statewide and municipal election for which the voter is 
entitled to vote and need not submit a separate request for each election.
A.  An application must be made in writing by the voter on a form designed by the 
Secretary of State.  This form must contain a statement notifying the voter that if the 
voter moves out of the municipality, that voter's status as an ongoing absentee voter 
in that municipality terminates.
B.  The Secretary of State shall send a copy of an approved application under this 
subsection to the clerk of the municipality where the absentee voter is registered and 
a copy to the address of the absentee voter.
C.  The Secretary of State shall terminate a voter's ongoing absentee voter status 
upon:
(1)  The written request of the voter;
(2)  The death or disqualification of the voter;
(3)  The cancellation of the voter's registration record in the central voter 
registration system;
(4)  The return of an absentee ballot as undeliverable; or
(5)  The designation of a voter's status as inactive in the central voter registration 
system.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §753-B, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
1-A.  Ballot issued to ongoing absentee voter.  Upon receipt of absentee ballots, the 
clerk shall immediately issue an absentee ballot and return envelope by mail to any voter 
who has qualified for ongoing absentee voter status under section 753-A, subsection 7.
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §754-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 253, §49, is 
further amended to read:
1.  Ballot delivered to voter or immediate family member.  When a voter or an 
immediate family member of a voter obtains a ballot from the clerk in person or by mail 
and returns that ballot to the clerk in person or by mail and receives no assistance in 
marking the ballot, the following procedures apply.
A.  The voter shall mark that ballot according to section 691 or 692 so that it is 
impossible for anyone present at the time to see how the voter voted.
B.  While the voter is marking the ballot, there may be no communication between 
the voter and any other individual as to the person or question for which the voter is 
to vote.
C.  After the voter has completed marking the ballot, the voter shall then seal the 
ballot in its return envelope and complete the affidavit on the envelope.  A notary or 
witness certification is not required unless the voter is assisted pursuant to subsection 
3.
D.  The voter or an immediate family member of the voter shall then mail or deliver 
in person the sealed envelope containing the voted ballot to the clerk of the 
municipality of which the voter is a resident.  The voter shall send a completed voter 
registration or absentee ballot application, if necessary, in a separate envelope.
E.  If an immediate family member of the voter returns an absentee ballot that was 
requested by the voter or another immediate family member of the voter, in writing or 
in person, the clerk shall accept the ballot.  The clerk shall have the immediate family 
member who returned the ballot sign the application or written request and shall 
indicate that the ballot was returned by that person.
A ballot that was issued to a voter who has qualified for ongoing absentee voter status 
under section 753-A, subsection 7 must be returned by mail or in person by the voter or 
an immediate family member of the voter.
SUMMARY
This bill provides a process for a voter to request ongoing absentee voter status in a 
municipality that has approved the use of ongoing absentee voter status, which allows the 
voter to automatically receive an absentee ballot for each statewide and municipal 
election until the status is terminated.