Senator CAMPSEN and HUTTO proposed the following amendment (JUD4919.021):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION before the effective date to read:

/SECTION ___. Section 7-15-310 "(7) 'Authorized representative' means a registered elector who, with the voter's permission, acts on behalf of a voter unable to go to the polls because of illness or disability resulting in his confinement in a hospital, sanatorium, nursing home, or place of residence, or a voter unable because of a physical handicap to go to his polling place or because of a handicap is unable to vote at his polling place due to existing architectural barriers that deny him physical access to the polling place, voting booth, or voting apparatus or machinery. Under no circumstance shall a candidate, or a member of a candidate's paid campaign staff, or a campaign volunteer volunteers reimbursed for the time they expend on campaign activity be considered an 'authorized representative' of an elector desiring to vote by absentee ballot."/

To further amend the bill by striking Section 7-15-330 and inserting:

/ "Section 7-15-330. (A)To vote by absentee ballot ,:

(1) a qualified elector or a member of his immediate family, as defined in Section 7-15-310(8), 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, or at an extension office of the county board of voter registration and elections as established by the county governing body, for the county of the voter's residence. ;or

(2) 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 an authorized representative. This The signed oath must be kept on file with the county 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, or a including campaign volunteer 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.

(B)(1)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.

(2) A person who makes a request for an application to vote by absentee ballot, either for himself or on behalf of another elector as permitted by this section, must provide, at a minimum, the following:

(a) for the elector for whom the request is being made, the elector's:

(i) name;

(ii) date of birth; and

(iii) last four digits of his social security number; and

(b) if someone is making a request on behalf of an elector, the requestor's:

(i) name;

(ii) address;

(iii) date of birth; and

(iv) relation to the elector, as required by subsection (A).

(3) The county board of voter registration and elections must verify the information required in this section for the elector for whom the absentee ballot is being requested, and must record the information provided for the individual who makes a request on behalf of an elector before providing an absentee ballot application.

(4) A person must not request absentee applications for more than five qualified electors per election, in addition to himself.

(C) However, completed Completed applications must be returned to the county board of voter registration and elections:

in person, by either the elector, a member of the elector's immediate family, or the elector's authorized representative, or by mail, by the elector, to the county board of voter registration and elections no later than before 5:00 p.m. on the fourth eleventh day before the day of the election to vote by absentee ballot. 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.

(D) A member of the immediate family of Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (C), if an elector is 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, then a member of the elector's immediate family 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 county board of voter registration and elections.

(E)The county 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; the date upon which the form is issued; and the date and method upon which the absentee ballot is returned. 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.

(F) A person who violates the provisions of this section is subject to the penalties provided in Section 7-25-170." /

To amend the bill further, by striking Section 7-15-385 and inserting:

/ "Section 7-15-385. (A) Upon receipt of the ballot or ballots, the absentee ballot applicant must mark each ballot on which he wishes to vote and place each ballot in the single envelope marked 'Ballot Herein' which in turn must be placed in the return-addressed envelope. The applicant must then return the return-addressed envelope to the board of voter registration and elections only by:

(1) mail , to the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections;

(2) by personal delivery, to an election official during office hours at the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections or to an election official during office hours at an early voting center; or

(3) by authorizing another person a member of the applicant's immediate family, as defined in Section 7-15-310(8), or an authorized representative, to return the return-addressed envelope for him to an election official during office hours at the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections or to an election official during office hours at an early voting center.

(B) An applicant who authorizes a member of his immediate family or an authorized representative to return the return-addressed envelope for him pursuant to this section must complete an The authorization must be given in writing on a form prescribed by the State Election Commission and that must be turned in to the board of voter registration and elections by the immediate family member or authorized representative at the time the return-addressed envelope is returned. The voter applicant must sign the form, or in the event the voter applicant cannot write because of a physical handicap or illiteracy, then the voter applicant must make his mark and have the mark witnessed by someone designated by the voter applicant.

(C) The authorization form prescribed by the State Election Commission must include a designated space in which an election official must record the specific form of government-issued photo identification presented by the immediate family member or authorized representative who is authorized by the applicant to deliver the return-addressed envelope. The authorization form must be preserved as part of the record of the election, and the county board of voter registration and elections must note the time and date of receipt of the authorization form, and the name of the authorized returnee, immediate family member or authorized representative, his relationship to the applicant, and the immediate family member's or authorized representative's form of government-issued photo identification in the record book required by Section 7-15-330.

(D)(1) When an applicant, or an applicant's authorized immediate family member or authorized representative, presents himself to deliver a return-addressed envelope pursuant to this section, he must produce a valid and current:

(a) driver's license issued by a state within the United States;

(b) another form of identification containing a photograph issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles or its equivalent by a state within the United States;

(c) passport;

(d) military identification containing a photograph issued by the federal government; or

(e) South Carolina voter registration card containing a photograph of the voter.

(2) An election official must verify that the name and photograph on the identification is the applicant, or the applicant's authorized immediate family member or authorized representative, as applicable.

(E) An election official must not accept a return-addressed envelope until the provisions of this section have been met.

(F) A candidate or a member of a candidate's paid campaign staff including volunteers reimbursed for time expended on campaign activity is not permitted to serve as an authorized returnee for any person unless the person is a member of the voter's immediate family as defined in Section 7-15-310. The oath set forth in Section 7-15-380 must be signed and witnessed on each returned envelope. The board of voter registration and elections must record in the record book required by Section 7-15-330 the date the return-addressed envelope with witnessed oath and enclosed ballot or ballots is received by the board. The board of voter registration and elections must securely store the return-addressed envelopes in a locked box boxes within the main office of the board of voter registration and elections as prescribed by the State Election Commission.

(G) It is unlawful for a person to return more than five return-addressed envelopes in an election, in addition to his own. A person who violates this subsection, upon conviction, must be punished as provided in Section 7-25-190."/

To amend the bill further, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

/SECTION ___ .Article 5, Chapter 15, Title 7 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 7-15-400. No absentee ballot application or absentee ballot may be provided by an election official to a qualified elector unless pursuant to a provision of this article or Article 9 of this chapter."/

Amend the bill further, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

/SECTION __ Chapter 25, Title 7 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 7-25-65.(A) It is unlawful for a person to provide, offer to provide, or accept anything of value in exchange for requesting, collecting, or delivering an absentee ballot. A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than five years.

(B) This section does not apply to an election official in the course and scope of the election official's duties or a public or private mail service provider acting in the course and scope of the mail service provider's duties to carry and deliver mail." /

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by striking Section 7-15-340.