A. Any person may apply for an absentee ballot by mail or by electronic transmission if received by the clerk not more than six months nor less than seven days before an election. The application shall include the address where the absentee ballot shall be mailed and the applicant’s full local residence address and signature.

B. After receipt of an application by mail, the clerk shall send the absentee ballot to the applicant by at least first-class, nonforwardable mail. The ballot shall be accompanied by instructions on how the ballot must be voted, the oath and affidavit envelope completed, and the ballot returned in order to be counted.

C. Upon receipt of an absentee ballot by mail, the voter may proceed to mark the ballot in secret, place the ballot in the small gray envelope, place the small gray envelope in the larger return envelope, and sign the voter’s certificate on the back of the return envelope in the presence of an official who shall sign as attesting official(s) and shall date their signature. Officials recognized to attest the legitimacy of signatures listed in this subsection are: a notary public, a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces including the National Guard, state court judge, magistrate, United States postal official, or other person qualified to administer oaths. If none of the officials listed in this subsection are reasonably accessible, an absentee voter shall have the ballot witnessed by a person over the age of 18 years.

D. The voter shall provide a proof of identification including one of the three unique pieces of personal identification which shall include the voter’s date of birth, last four digits of the voter’s voter identification number to aid in the establishment of the voter’s identity. These unique identifiers shall be provided by the voter on the larger return envelope.

E. The voted absentee by-mail ballot must be either delivered to an election official before the time set for in person absentee votes to be cast, or postmarked on or before midnight of election day and received by the clerk no later than the Tuesday following the election by 5 p.m. Ballot envelopes received after that time shall not be opened but shall be marked “rejected,” with the date of receipt noted thereon, and shall be preserved as set by the records retention schedule. The canvass board shall review voted by-mail ballots under this section using the established procedures for the review of absentee ballots.

F. A voter who does not receive an absentee by-mail ballot or any voter wishing to vote absentee in person or early vote in person may do so at any designated absentee or early voting site.

G. The borough clerk shall maintain a record of the name of each voter to whom an absentee by-mail ballot is sent under this section. The record must list the type of ballot mailed, date on which the ballot is mailed, date on which the ballot is received by the borough clerk. The record shall be made available for public inspection. [Ord. FY2023-05 §2, 2022; Ord. FY2009-19 §2, 2009; Ord. 02-11 §6; Ord. 95-01 §2, 1995; Ord. 93-60 §2, 1993; Ord. 90-07 §3, 1990; Ord. 88-05-O §3, 1988; Ord. 86-22-O §2, 1986].