Absentee voting; deadline for returning absenteeballot. Requires that an absentee ballot be received before the closing of the polls on election day in order to be counted. Currently,an absentee ballot that is received after the closing of the pollsbut before noon on the third day after the election is counted ifit is postmarked on or before the date of the election.
Absentee voting; return of absentee ballots;drop-off locations. Repeals the provisions of law providing forthe establishment of drop-off locations for the return of absenteeballots.
Absentee voting in person; available beginningon the fourteenth day prior to election; hours of operation. Limits absentee voting in person to the two weeks immediately precedingan election. During these two weeks, the bill requires that absenteevoting in person be available Monday through Saturday, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day.
Repeal of the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act. Directs the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality to suspend the Commonwealth's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Absentee voting; permanent absentee voter listrepealed. Repeals the provisions of law by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballots for all elections inwhich he is eligible to vote and remains on the list until the voterrequests in writing to be removed from the list, the voter's registrationis canceled or placed on inactive status pursuant to law, or thevoter moves to a different address not in the same county or cityof his registration.
Absentee voting; unsolicited absentee ballotapplications; required information. Requires any individual ororganization sending an application for an absentee ballot to a registeredvoter that was not solicited or requested by the registered voterto include with the application instructions on completing the applicationand submitting it to the appropriate general registrar. The billrequires a statement that the application is not being sent by anystate or local government official or agency on the envelope containingthe application or on the first page of any enclosed materials. Suchindividuals and organizations are required to use the informationprovided in the list of registered voters acquired by such individualor organization from the Department of Elections pursuant to law, and a violation of this requirement is a Class 4 misdemeanor. Thebill requires the Department of Elections to ensure, when providingthe list of registered voters to such individual or organization for purposes of sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications, thatno voter is included on the list provided if such voter has appliedfor an absentee ballot on or before the date the list is requested.The bill also provides that no absentee ballot sent to a registeredvoter that was not solicited or requested by the registered votermay be pre-populated with information the applicant is required toprovide.
Elections; voter identification containing aphotograph required; permanent absentee voter list repealed.Requires presentation of a form of identification containing a photographin order to vote. The bill repeals the provisions of law permittinga voter who does not have one of the required forms of identificationto vote after signing a statement, subject to felony penalties forfalse statements, that he is the named registered voter he claimsto be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitled tocast a provisional ballot. The bill also repeals the provisions oflaw by which any registered voter may apply to receive absentee ballotsfor all elections in which he is eligible to vote and remains onthe list until the voter requests in writing to be removed from thelist, the voter's registration is canceled or placed on inactivestatus pursuant to law, or the voter moves to a different addressnot in the same county or city of his registration.
Voter registration; registration permittedup to and including the day of the election. Repeals a provisionthat would permit any person who is qualified to register to voteto register to vote in person up to and including the day of theelection, notwithstanding any deadline for the close of registration records. The repeal will limit the persons who are entitled to registerto vote after the close of registration records to (i) any member of a uniformed service of the United States who is on active duty,(ii) any person residing temporarily outside of the United States,and (iii) the spouse or dependent residing with someone listed in(i) or (ii).
Elections; time of certain local elections.Removes a provision that requires local elections for mayor,members of a local governing body, or members of an elected schoolboard to be held at the time of the November general election. Thebill allows cities and towns that made the transition between July1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, to provide by ordinance for its reversal.
Voter identification; identification containinga photograph required. Requires presentation of a form of identificationcontaining a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisionsof law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required formsof identification to vote after signing a statement, subject to felonypenalties for false statements, that he is the named registered voterhe claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitledto cast a provisional ballot.
Public employees; bargaining representative certification. Provides that, in a locality that has authorized collective bargaining by ordinance or resolution, a bargaining representative must be selected for each collective bargaining unit determined to be appropriate by the governing body of the locality. The bill provides that for a bargaining representative to be certified as an exclusive representative, at least 51 percent of the public employees in a collective bargaining unit must vote for certification of the bargaining representative through a secret ballot election conducted by the governing body of the locality, and a secret ballot election shall be conducted very two years to confirm majority support for the bargaining representative. Preexisting bargaining representatives must also be certified by a vote of at least 51 percent of the affected collective bargaining unit.
Minimum wage; small employers. Exempts employersthat are individuals or entities with 10 or fewer employees fromthe state minimum wage requirements.
