How To Vote If You are In a Health Care Facility During Election Time

Can you still vote if you are stuck in a hospital or a health care facility around election time?  In Illinois and Indiana, yes.

ILLINOIS
 
 In Illinois, the following instructions are given by the state board of elections:

 THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS MUST BE MET:

1. Voter must obtain an Application for Ballot for Qualified Voter Admitted to Hospital, Nursing Home or Rehabilitation Center . The application can be obtained from the election authority (county clerk or board of election commissioners, depending on where the voter is registered to vote).

2. Voter must complete his/her application and his/her physician must complete and sign the Ce rtificate of Attending Physician section of the application.

 3. After the form is completed and signed by the voter and his/her physician, a registered voter from the voter’s precinct or any legal relative can then hand deliver the application to the election authority’s office.

4. After signing an affidavit, the precinct voter or legal relative may personally hand deliver the ballot to the voter at the health care facility he/she has been admitted to.

5. Once the voter receives the ballot, he/she will vote the ballot in secret and complete the certification on the ballot return envelope.

 6. After depositing his/her voted ballot in the return envelope, the voter will securely seal the envelope, and give the envelope to the precinct voter or to the legal relative.  The ballot must be delivered back to the election authority before 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.

Assistance is the actual casting of votes for a voter in accordance with the voter’s wishes. Assistance can be given by a friend or relative, but cannot be given by an officer or agent of the voter’s employer or the voter’s union.  A candidate whose name appears on the ballot is also prohibited from assisting a physically incapacitated voter unless the candidate is the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of the incapacitated voter.  This would prohibit precinct committeemen from giving assistance in a primary election.  If assistance is given, the name and address of the person giving assistance must be provided on the certification envelope.

file:///C:/Users/Steven/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/IE/8MYUBQOO/hospital2.pdf

Indiana

You may vote by absentee ballot In Indiana if:

• You have a specific, reasonable expectation that you will be absent from the county on Election Day during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open (6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.).
• You have a disability.
• You are at least 65 years of age.
• You will have official election duties outside of your voting precinct.
• You are scheduled to work at your regular place of employment during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
• You are prevented from voting due to the unavailability of transportation to the polls.
• You will be confined due to illness or injury or you will be caring for an individual confined due to illness or injury during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
• You are prevented from voting because of a religious discipline or religious holiday during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
• You are a participant in the state’s address confidentiality program.
• You are a serious sex offender as defined in Indiana Code 35-42-4-14(a).
• You are a member of the military or a public safety officer.

Per Indiana law, a disabled person or one who is unable to read or write English may request assistance in the voting booth:

"Sec. 2 . (a) A voter who:

(1) is a voter with disabilities;  or

(2) is unable to read or write English;

may request assistance in voting before entering the voting booth and designate a person (other than the voter's employer, an officer of the voter's union, or an agent of the voter's employer or union) to assist the voter in voting at an election, as required by 52 U.S.C. 10508 .

(b) The person designated must execute a sworn affidavit on a form provided by the absentee voter board or the precinct election board stating that, to the best of the designated person's knowledge, the voter:

(1) is a voter with disabilities or is unable to read or write English;  and

(2) has requested the designated person to assist the voter in voting under this section.

(c) The person designated may then accompany the voter into the voting booth and assist the voter in marking the voter's paper ballot or ballot card or in registering the voter's vote on the electronic voting system.  IC 3-11-9-2.

https://www.in.gov/sos/elections/