Sec. 18. (a) If a voter satisfies any of the qualifications described in IC 3-11-10-24 that entitle a voter to cast an absentee ballot by mail, the county election board shall, at the request of the voter, mail the official ballot, postage fully prepaid, to the voter at the address stated in the application. Each ballot may be assigned a unique tracking number as prescribed by the election division using IMb Tracing or a similar automated tracking method to provide real-time tracking information for the envelope containing the ballot. As used in this subsection, “IMb Tracing” refers to a real-time mail tracking service offered through the United States Postal Service.

     (b) If the county election board mails an absentee ballot to a voter required to file additional documentation with the county voter registration office before voting by absentee ballot under this chapter, the board shall include a notice to the voter in the envelope mailed to the voter under section 20 of this chapter. The notice must inform the voter that the voter must file the additional documentation required under IC 3-7-33-4.5 or IC 3-7-33-4.7 with the county voter registration office before 6 p.m. on election day.

     (c) Except as provided in this subsection, section 18.5 of this chapter, or IC 3-11-10-26.5, the ballot shall be transmitted:

(1) on the day of the receipt of the voter’s application; or

(2) not more than five (5) days after the date of delivery of the ballots under section 15 of this chapter;

whichever is later. If the election board determines that the county voter registration office has received an application from the applicant for registration at an address within the precinct indicated on the application, and the election board determines that this application is pending under IC 3-7-33, the ballot shall be mailed on the date the county voter registration office indicates under IC 3-7-33-5(g) that the applicant is a registered voter.

     (d) As required by 52 U.S.C. § 21081, an election board shall establish a voter education program (specific to a paper ballot or optical scan ballot card provided as an absentee ballot under this chapter) to notify a voter of the effect of casting multiple votes for a single office.

     (e) As provided by 52 U.S.C. § 21081, when an absentee ballot is transmitted under this section, the mailing must include:

(1) information concerning the effect of casting multiple votes for an office; and

(2) instructions on how to correct the ballot before the ballot is cast and counted, including the issuance of replacement ballots.

[Pre-1986 Recodification Citation: 3-1-22-5(a).]

As added by P.L.5-1986, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.3-1987, SEC.229; P.L.10-1988, SEC.105; P.L.4-1991, SEC.71; P.L.3-1993, SEC.128; P.L.3-1995, SEC.99; P.L.126-2002, SEC.55; P.L.209-2003, SEC.116; P.L.14-2004, SEC.105; P.L.103-2005, SEC.6; P.L.164-2006, SEC.93; P.L.66-2010, SEC.19; P.L.194-2013, SEC.55; P.L.128-2015, SEC.163; P.L.216-2015, SEC.21; P.L.169-2015, SEC.102; P.L.86-2018, SEC.3; P.L.100-2018, SEC.2; P.L.227-2023, SEC.79; P.L.65-2024, SEC.22.