[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 25, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 25CFR81.19]

[Page 247-248]
 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
     CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 81_TRIBAL REORGANIZATION UNDER A FEDERAL STATUTE--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 81.19  Absentee voting.

    (a) Nonresident members who have registered may vote by absentee 
ballot except as prohibited by Sec. 81.6. Also, whenever, due to 
temporary absence from the reservation, illness, or physical disability, 
a registered and otherwise eligible voter is not able to vote at the 
polls and notifies the election board, the voter shall be entitled to 
vote by absentee ballot. Upon his or her request, the election board 
shall give or mail absentee ballots to registered voters who may be 
entitled to receive them pursuant to Sec. 81.6. At the same time, such 
voters will also be provided a copy of the proposal to be voted upon 
when the full text does not appear

[[Page 248]]

on the ballot. Appropriate records shall be kept of those from whom 
requests are received and the date they were received. The election 
board shall allow an absentee voter no less than ten days from the 
mailing out of an absentee ballot to receive and return the ballot. This 
period shall not be afforded absentee voters desiring to exchange a 
mutilated or spoiled ballot less than ten days before the election date. 
While requests for absentee ballots received less than ten days before 
an election will be promptly honored, no absentee ballot will be counted 
if received later than either the close of the polls or after some other 
deadline established by the election board. The election board shall 
furnish election officials the names of individuals who have been given 
or had mailed to them an absentee ballot.
    (b) Accompanying the absentee ballot shall be:
    (1) An inner envelope bearing on the outside, the words ``Absentee 
Ballot,''
    (2) Instructions for completion of the absentee ballot,
    (3) A copy of the proposed amendment, and
    (4) A preaddressed outer envelope, imprinted on the back with a 
certificate as follows:

    I, (name of voter), hereby certify that I am a qualified voter of 
the (name) Tribe of Indians; that I will be 18 years of age or over at 
the election date and am entitled to vote in the election to be held on 
(date of election); and that I cannot appear at the polling place on the 
reservation on the date of the election because (indicate one of the 
following reasons): I am a non resident voter [squ]; or I expect to be 
temporarily absent from the reservation [squ]; or because of illness 
[squ]; or physical disability [squ]; or because no polling place has 
been established [squ]. I further certify that I marked the enclosed 
ballot in secret.

     Signed:--------------(voter's signature).

    (c) The absentee voter shall mark the ballot and the ballot shall 
then be folded so as to conceal the marking and be placed in the 
envelope marked ``Absentee Ballot'' and the envelope sealed. The voter 
shall then place the sealed envelope marked ``Absentee Ballot'' in the 
outer envelope, seal it and complete the certificate and mail it. The 
preaddressed outer envelope shall be directed to the election board at 
the reservation. Absentee ballots must be received by the election board 
not later than the close of the polls or as otherwise directed by the 
election board.
    (d) The election board shall make and keep a record of ballots 
mailed, to whom mailed, the date of mailing, the address on the 
envelope, the date of the return of the ballot, and from whom received. 
After duly recording the receipt date of absentee ballots received on 
time, representatives of the election board shall open the outer 
envelopes, secure them and place the unmarked inner envelopes containing 
the ballots in a separate box reserved for that purpose. After all other 
ballots have been counted, the absentee ballots shall be counted 
immediately and included in the results of the election.