Senator HARPOOTLIAN proposed the following amendment (ZW\5149C001.CC.ZW20):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting clause and inserting:

/ SECTION1. This act may be cited as the "South Carolina COVID-19 General Election Public Safety Act".

SECTION2. A. Notwithstanding another provision of law, a qualified elector must be permitted to vote by absentee ballot in the 2020 general election if the qualified elector is self-quarantining, isolating, or social distancing in order to avoid possible exposure to a contagious, communicable, or transmissible disease, including COVID-19.

B. F or purposes of the 2020 general election and notwithstanding another provision of law, the county boards of voter registration and elections may:

(1) utilize secure drop boxes for the collection of timely cast absentee ballots. As used in this item, "drop box" means a secure, locked structure operated by county election officials where qualified electors may deliver their absentee ballots from the time they receive them in the mail up to the time polls close on election day. Absentee ballot drop boxes must be available during regular business hours and monitored by trained county election workers during those hours; and

(2) designate curbside voting locations that, in the discretion of the individual county boards of voter registration and elections, do not have to include every polling location in the county. If a county board of voter registration and elections elects to designate curbside voting at locations other than at every polling location in the county, then the county board shall include the list of designated curbside voting locations in the elections notices required pursuant to Section 7-13-35.

C. This SECTION takes effect upon approval by the Governor and expires on December 31, 2020.

SECTION3. Section 7-15-330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 7-15-330. To vote by absentee ballot, a qualified elector or a member of his immediate family must request an application to vote by absentee ballot in person, by telephone, or by mail from the county board of voter registration and elections, electronically on the Internet website of the county board of voter registration and elections, or at an extension office of the board of voter registration and elections as established by the county governing body, for the county of the voter's residence. A person requesting an application for a qualified elector as the qualified elector's authorized representative must request an application to vote by absentee ballot in person or by mail only and must himself be a registered voter and must sign an oath to the effect that he fits the statutory definition of a representative. This signed oath must be kept on file with the board of voter registration and elections until the end of the calendar year or until all contests concerning a particular election have been finally determined, whichever is later. A candidate or a member of a candidate's paid campaign staff, including volunteers reimbursed for time expended on campaign activity, is not allowed to request applications for absentee voting for any person designated in this section unless the person is a member of the immediate family. A request for an application to vote by absentee ballot may be made anytime during the calendar year in which the election in which the qualified elector desires to be permitted to vote by absentee ballot is being held. However, completed applications must be returned to the county board of voter registration and elections in person or by mail before 5:00 p.m. on the fourth day before the day of the election. Applications must be accepted by the county board of voter registration and elections until 5:00 p.m. on the day immediately preceding the election for those who appear in person and are qualified to vote absentee pursuant to Section 7-15-320. A member of the immediate family of a person who is admitted to a hospital as an emergency patient on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election may obtain an application from the board on the day of an election, complete it, receive the ballot, deliver it personally to the patient who shall vote, and personally carry the ballot back to the board of voter registration and elections. The board of voter registration and elections shall serially number each absentee ballot application form and keep a record book in which must be recorded the number of the form, the name, home address, and absentee mailing address of the person for whom the absentee ballot application form is requested; the name, address, voter registration number, and relationship of the person requesting the form, if other than the applicant; the date upon which the form is requested; and the date upon which the form is issued. This information becomes a public record at 9:00 a.m. on the day immediately preceding the election, except that forms issued for emergency hospital patients must be made public by 9:00 a.m. on the day following an election. A person who violates the provisions of this section is subject to the penalties provided in Section 7-25-170."

SECTION4. Section 7-15-340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 7-15-340.The application required in Section 7-15-330 to be submitted to these election officials must be in a form prescribed and distributed by the State Election Commission; except that persons listed in Section 7-15-320(2), (3), (6), and (10) may use Standard Form 76, or any subsequent form replacing it, provided by the federal government as a simultaneous request for registration and an absentee ballot or a request for an absentee ballot if already registered.

The application must contain the following information: name, registration certificate number, address, absentee address, election of ballot request, election date, runoff preference, party preference, reason for request, oath of voter, and voter's signature ; however, the voter's signature is not necessary if the application has been submitted electronically pursuant to Section 7-15-330.

The oath must be as follows: 'I do swear or affirm that I am a qualified elector, that I am entitled to vote in this election, and that I will not vote again during this election. The information above is true in all respects, and I hereby apply for an absentee ballot for the reason indicated above.' Any person who fraudulently applies for an absentee ballot in violation of this section, upon conviction, must be punished in accordance with Section 7-25-20."

SECTION5. Section 7-15-380 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately lettered subsection at the end to read:

"( ) For purposes of the 2020 general election and notwithstanding another provision of law, the requirement that the absentee ballot applicant's oath imprinted on the return-addressed envelope be witnessed pursuant to subsection (A) shall not apply."

SECTION6. Section 7-13-35 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an undesignated paragraph at the end to read:

" For purposes of the 2020 general election and notwithstanding another provision of law, the notice required pursuant to this section shall include notification that the process of examining the return-addressed envelopes containing absentee ballots may begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2020, at a place designated in the notice by the authority charged with conducting the election."

SECTION7. Section 7-15-420 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an undesignated paragraph at the end to read:

"For purposes of the 2020 general election and notwithstanding another provision of law, t he county board of voter registration and elections, municipal election commission, or executive committee of each municipal party in the case of municipal primary elections is responsible for the tabulation and reporting of absentee ballots. At 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2020, the managers appointed pursuant to Section 7-5-10, and in the presence of any watchers who have been appointed pursuant to Section 7-13-860, may begin the process of examining the return-addressed envelopes that have been received by the county board of voter registration and elections making certain that each oath has been properly signed. All return-addressed envelopes received by the county board of voter registration and elections before the time for closing the polls must be examined in this manner. A ballot may not be counted unless the oath is properly signed and witnessed nor may any ballot be counted which is received by the county board of voter registration and elections after time for closing of the polls. The printed instructions required by Section 7-15-370(2) to be sent each absentee ballot applicant must notify him that his vote will not be counted in either of these events. If a ballot is not challenged, the sealed return-addressed envelope must be opened by the managers, and the enclosed envelope marked 'Ballot Herein' removed and placed in a locked box or boxes. After all return-addressed envelopes have been emptied in this manner, the managers shall remove the ballots contained in the envelopes marked 'Ballot Herein', placing each one in the ballot box provided for the applicable contest. The tabulation of absentee ballots may begin starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2020. Any absentee ballots received on election day before the polls are closed also must be tabulated. If any ballot is challenged, the return-addressed envelope must not be opened, but must be put aside and the procedure set forth in Section 7-13-830 must be utilized; but the absentee voter must be given reasonable notice of the challenged ballot. Results of the tabulation must not be publicly reported until after the polls are closed."

SECTION8. The amendments contained in SECTIONS 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of this act are repealed on December 31, 2020, and the text of these SECTIONS therefore shall revert back to the language as contained in the South Carolina Code of Laws as of September 1, 2020.

SECTION9. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /