ABSENTEE BALLOTS
Current law allows absentee ballots to be counted as long as they arrive within three days of the election and are postmarked by Election Day. One of the new GOP proposals, Senate Bill 747, would require all absentee ballots to be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
“One of the reasons for this is we don’t want to have to wait for 4-5 days after election day to know the results of the election,” said Senate President Pro Tempore, Phil Berger. “People who vote in person need to have their vote in by 7:30 on Election Day. People who choose to vote by absentee ballot should have the same deadline,” said Berger.
PROVISIONAL BALLOTS
Proposed election changes also would make certain voters cast provisional ballots. These are used when there is uncertainty about a voter’s eligibility to participate in an election. Provisional ballots are held aside until election workers can determine if a voter was eligible to vote or not.
Any voter who is unable to present a photo ID in the upcoming election would be able to fill out an ID exception form and cast a provisional ballot.
Under SB 747, voters who use same-day registration would also have to cast provisional ballots unless they are able to show certain identifying documents.
In 2022, less than half of provisional ballots were approved. Most denied provisional ballots were rejected because they came from people who weren’t registered voters.