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Amend the bill by inserting after the title and before the enacting clause the following:
‘
‘Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas,  this legislation makes changes to improve the administration of absentee voting; and
Whereas,  required planning necessary for administration of absentee voting for the next general election must begin well before the election; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,’
Amend the bill in section 1 in section 760-B in the 2nd line (page 1, line 6 in L.D.) by striking the following: "4th" and inserting the following: '3rd'
Amend the bill in section 1 in section 760-B in subsection 3 in the first paragraph in the 3rd line (page 1, line 30 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "the first" and inserting the following: 'theeach'
Amend the bill in section 1 by striking all of subsection 4-A. (page 2, lines 1 to 15 in L.D.)
Amend the bill in section 1 in section 760-B in subsection 5 in the 5th line (page 2, line 20 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "pursuant to subsection 4-A"
Amend the bill by adding before the summary the following:
‘Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.’
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
 
SUMMARY
This amendment provides that a municipality may opt to process absentee ballots on the 3rd day prior to election day, unlike the bill, which permits absentee ballot processing on the 3rd and 4th days. The amendment clarifies that any person may request an opportunity to inspect ballots subject to early processing if that person provides notice by 9:00 a.m. on the day the ballots will be processed. This amendment strikes the portion of the bill that allows municipalities to use a high-speed tabulator at a central location for counting absentee ballots.
Finally, this amendment adds an emergency preamble and emergency clause to the bill.