HARRY HUGHES, Governor

835

reregister at the office of any board or with any board of
registry,] WHO IS ELDERLY OR HANDICAPPED shall be allowed to
register or reregister by casting his absentee ballot.

3-21A.

(a) If the board determines that [a physically] AN ELDERLY
OR handicapped voter is qualified, it shall assign the voter to
an election district, ward, or precinct whose polling place is
structurally barrier-free in order to permit reasonable access
for the voter if the voter's own polling place is not so
designed. A person who has qualified as [a physically] AN ELDERLY
OR handicapped voter entitled to vote at an alternate polling
place shall be regarded as a voter who is unable to vote
personally at his own polling place. In order to qualify for
assignment to an alternate polling place, the voter shall apply
for a change in polling place on a form prescribed by the State
Administrative Board of Election Laws no later than the closing
of registration for any election. [For the purposes of this
section, "physically handicapped voter" means any voter who has
temporarily or permanently lost the use of a leg or both legs or
a foot or both feet or any combination who is so severely
disabled as to be unable to move without the aid of braces,
canes, crutches or a wheelchair; whose mobility is significantly
impaired by reason of heart or lung disease who suffers from
hemophilia; or who is blind or whose vision is substantially
impaired.]

27.2.

(a) Any qualified ELDERLY AND HANDICAPPED voter [whose
physical disability or confinement in or restriction to an
institution prevents or will prevent him from being present and
personally voting at the polls on any election day] shall also be
entitled to vote as an absentee voter under this subtitle. Such
voter shall make application for an absentee ballot as provided
in § 27-4 of this article. The application shall be filed in the
office of the board of supervisors of elections not later than

the Tuesday preceding any election. Upon receipt of the

application the board shall mail to the voter entitled thereto an
absentee ballot. In all other respects, absentee voting as
provided for in this section shall be similar to and controlled
by the applicable procedure provided by law for absentee voting.

3-21A.

(a) (1) UPON THE REQUEST OF AN ELDERLY OR HANDICAPPED VOTER
WHOSE POLLING PLACE IS NOT STRUCTURALLY BARRIER FREE, THE BOARD
SHALL EITHER:

(I) ASSIGN [If the board determines that a
physically handicapped voter is qualified, it shall assign] the
voter to an election district, ward, or precinct whose polling
place is structurally barrier free; OR