Substitute House Bill 41 Summary

• Changes voter registration challenge deadline from twenty days to thirty days before an election, allowing boards of elections discretion to postpone hearings for late challenges until after election day.

• Establishes new procedures for in-person absent voting including signature book requirements, identification verification standards matching day-of-election rules, and prohibition of third-party challenges to absent voter eligibility.

• Expands observer appointment notification requirements to include processing of absent voter ballots before counting, with eleven-day advance notice required to the board of elections.

• Modifies absent voter ballot processing deadlines, changing overseas and uniformed services ballots from forty-five to forty-sixth day before election and allowing boards to process ballots before counting without tabulating votes.

• Amends voting machine reimbursement provisions to require new county acquisitions after the bill's effective date to comply with Secretary of State procedures for vendor selection and equipment certification.