Amendment ID: S2545-17

Amendment 17

Ensuring Access to Ballot Drop Boxes

Ms. Rausch, Ms. Gobi, Ms. DiZoglio, Messrs. O'Connor and Eldridge and Ms. Jehlen move that the proposed new draft be amended in section 11, in line 237, by inserting after the word “clerk.” the following paragraph:-

Each municipality shall maintain at least one secured municipal ballot drop box in a public location that is accessible to voters for not less than twelve hours each day, including business hours. A municipality with more than twenty-five thousand registered voters shall maintain at least one secured municipal ballot drop box for each twenty-five thousand registered voters during any voting by mail period. Locations for municipal ballot drop boxes shall be selected by the select board, town council or city council to prioritize, to the extent feasible:

(i) proximity to public transportation and availability of parking;

(ii) equitable distribution across population centers;

(iii) access for persons with disabilities; and

(iv) use of public buildings.

A  municipality shall maintain such ballot drop boxes from the earliest date that ballots become available to voters through the hour fixed for the closing of the polls for any annual or special municipal or state preliminary, primary or election. A municipality with fewer than five thousand voters in excess of any twenty-five thousand registered voter increment may apply to the state secretary for waiver of the requirement to maintain an additional secured municipal ballot drop box for such population. The state secretary shall grant a waiver application made under this paragraph upon a determination that such waiver would serve the public interest.