An Act Regarding Absentee Voting by Residents of Nursing Homes and Other Residential Care Facilities

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §753-B, sub-§2, ¶B-1  is enacted to read:

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §753-B, sub-§5,  as amended by PL 2011, c. 534, §20, is further amended to read:

summary

This bill amends the law governing the issuance of absentee ballots to a voter who is a resident of a nursing home, a residential care facility or an assisted housing program. The bill prohibits a municipal clerk from issuing an absentee ballot to an immediate family member or a 3rd person for a voter who has granted another person power of attorney and who is receiving medical care due to dementia unless the clerk acquires the consent of the person who has been granted power of attorney. The bill also prohibits a municipal clerk, when facilitating absentee voting at a nursing home, a residential care facility or an assisted housing program, from issuing an absentee ballot to a voter who has granted power of attorney to another person and who is receiving medical care due to dementia unless the clerk acquires the consent of the person who has been granted power of attorney.