Amendment ID: S1975-54-R1

Redraft Amendment 54

Corrective Amendment

Mr. Brewer moves to amend the amendment by striking out section 10, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

“SECTION 10. Section 38 of chapter 53 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “primary”, in line 19, the following words:- ; provided further, that a voter registered in a political designation that is not a political party as defined in section 1 of chapter 50 shall be considered unenrolled for the purpose of the primary and shall be eligible to receive a ballot of a political party of the voter’s choosing.”; and

by striking out, in section 11, proposed subsection (b) of proposed section 25B of chapter 54 of the General Laws, and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

“(b) The voting period for early voting shall run: (i) for all cities and towns, from the tenth business day preceding a primary or general election; provided, however, that if the tenth business day before the primary or election falls on a legal holiday the early voting period shall begin on the first business day prior to the legal holiday, until the close of business on the business day preceding the business day before the primary or election; (ii) in a city or town with 1 precinct, a combined total of not less than 3 hours on the Saturday and Sunday immediately preceding the day of the primary or election; and (iii) in a city or town with more than 1 precinct, a combined total of not less than 10 hours on the Saturday and Sunday immediately preceding the day of the primary or election.”; and

by striking out, in section 11, proposed subsection (1) of proposed section 25A of chapter 54 of the General Laws, and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

“(l) The counting of early voting ballots including, but not limited to, informing election officers and any challengers present under section 85A shall be set by regulations promulgated under this chapter. All envelopes referred to in this section shall be retained with the ballots cast at the election and shall be preserved and destroyed in the manner provided by law for the retention, preservation or destruction of official ballots.” ; and

by striking out, in section 14B, inserted by amendment 19, the words “All websites that are maintained by a city or town or by a third party under contract with a city or town” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- “The official website of a city or town, if such city or town maintains an official website,”; and

by inserting after section 15 the following section:-

SECTION 15A. Sections 6 and 8 shall take effect 90 days after the effective date of this act.