(A) Qualified electors in the following categories who are unable to vote during early voting hours for the duration of the early voting period, and during the hours the polls are open on election day, must be permitted to vote by absentee ballot in an election:

(1) persons with employment obligations who present written certification of the obligations to the county board of voter registration and elections;

(2) persons who will be attending sick or physically disabled persons;

(3) persons confined to a jail or pretrial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial; or

(4) persons who are going to be absent from their county of residence.

(B) Qualified electors in the following categories must be permitted to vote by absentee ballot in an election, regardless of whether the elector is able to vote during early voting hours for the duration of the early voting period, and during the hours the polls are open on election day:

(1) physically disabled persons;

(2) persons sixty-five years of age or older;

(3) members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with them; or

(4) persons admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election, as provided in § 7-15-330.