§ 12-14. Absentee ballots.

(a)

An absentee ballot shall be provided to and returned by an elector, except an overseas elector, in person or by mail except as provided herein. For purposes of this section, "mail" means delivery by the United States Postal Service. Absentee ballots shall be provided to and returned by overseas electors in accordance with federal law and Florida Statutes. The Supervisor of Elections may provide to and receive absentee ballots from employees of the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department who are designated by the Director to facilitate the vote for inmates of correctional facilities who are eligible to vote. The Supervisor of Elections may provide an absentee ballot to a designee of an elector if the elector is unable to retrieve and/or return the ballot in person or by mail as follows:

(b)

The designee must provide to the Supervisor of Elections identification from the elector, picture identification of the designee, and a written statement signed by the elector authorizing the designee by name to pick up and/or return the absentee ballot. If the elector is a member of the designee's immediate family, the signed statement must include the circumstances requiring the designee to pick up and/or return the absentee ballot. If the elector is not a member of the designee's immediate family, the designee must also provide to the Supervisor of Elections a statement signed by a physician on that physician's stationery that, due to a medical emergency involving the elector or elector's dependent, the named elector is unable to vote at the polls and is unable to pick up and/or return an absentee ballot in person. A designee may retrieve, pick up and/or return (whether by hand, by mail or by any other method) no more than two (2) absentee ballots other than his or her own per election, only one (1) of which may be for an elector not of the designee's immediate family. For purposes of this section, "immediate family" means the elector's spouse or the parent, child, grandparent, or sibling of the elector. A designee may only pick up and/or return an absentee ballot on the day before or day of the election for an immediate family member and on the day of the election for a non-family member. The designee must complete an affidavit that states that the designee is authorized by the elector to retrieve and/or return the elector's ballot and shall indicate his or her relationship to the elector, if any. Any person picking up and/or returning absentee ballots in violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court having jurisdiction over the cause.

(c)

The Supervisor of Elections shall prescribe the form of the affidavit to be completed and signed by a designee of an elector. If the Supervisor of Elections is satisfied that the designee is authorized to retrieve and/or return the absentee ballot, the ballot shall be provided to or accepted from the designee.

(Ord. No. 98-104, §§ 1—3, 7-7-98; Ord. No. 02-89, § 2, 6-4-02; Ord. No. 11-93, § 1, 12-6-11)