[EL] Absentee Ballot Question

[Lisa Danetz]

Hi All,

I just received a call from a reporter regarding the following situation:

A registered voter in Missouri is going to be out of state tomorrow (in Michigan) and so applied for and has received an absentee ballot.  Missouri law requires that the voter have her signature on the absentee ballot be notarized but Missouri law also prohibits a notary charging for the notarization of the signature.  Obviously, this law does not apply in Michigan and the voter thus has to pay a notary in MIchigan in order to cast her ballot.

The reporter would like to know the following, which I do not know offhand and said I would circulate:

(1)    Has this situation arisen before and/or been challenged as a poll tax?
(2)    How many and which states require that an absentee ballot be notarized?

Thanks so much for any leads you can pass along.

Lisa

Lisa J. Danetz
Senior Counsel
Demos
358 Chestnut Hill Ave., #303
Brighton, MA  02135
p: (617) 232-5885
f:  (617) 232-7251
www.demos.org<http://www.demos.org>

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