ABSENTEE VOTING

California's "A Guide to Absentee Voting in California" includes the following:

Can I give my voted absentee ballot to someone else to return for me? If you are ill, or have a physical disability, you may designate a relative (spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, or sister) to return your voted ballot for you. Your relative may return it in person to the elections office or to a polling place in your county, or may place it in the mail for return to the elections official. (Guide at page 3.) 

The California November 7, 2006 General Election Official Voter Information Guide states:

You may return your voted absentee ballot by . . . authorizing a legally allowable third party (relative or person residing in the same household as you) to return the ballot on your behalf. (Guide at page 190.)  

The Riverside County 2006 Candidate Handbook states: 

No candidate or representative of a candidate, and no proponent, opponent, or representative of a proponent or opponent, of an initiative, referendum, or recall measure, or of a charter amendment, shall solicit the vote of an absentee voter, or do any electioneering, while in the residence or in the immediate presence of the voter, and during the time he or she knows the absentee voter is voting. (Candidate Handbook, page 42.)  

In California Elections, third persons cannot collect and return completed absentee ballots from voters, with the limited exception for disabled voters. These limitations are intended to protect against any tampering with, or non-delivery of, absentee ballots. These same concerns are equally applicable to association elections.   

Updated by ADAMS KESSLER 8/9/2008