SB 757: Allows pre-processing of AV ballots

SB 757 provides much needed flexibility to election clerks by allowing election workers to open an absentee voter ballot return envelope containing the marked ballot of an absentee voter the day before an election. If the clerk of a city or township with a population of 25,000 or more notifies the Secretary of State at least 20 days before election day (for the 2020 election only), that clerk, between the hours of 10 AM and 8 PM on the day before election day, would be authorized only to open pre-process ballots by opening the return envelopes, but would not be authorized to remove them from the secrecy envelopes. The bill is necessary to address concerns that a rapid increase in votes by absentee ballot will make it difficult for clerks and local election officials to quickly process every vote and report election results in a timely manner.