Absentee voting at the commissioner’s office

1. Not more than twenty days before the date of the primary election or the general election, the commissioner shall provide facilities for absentee voting in person at the commissioner’s office. This service shall also be provided for other elections as soon as the ballots are ready, but in no case shall absentee ballots be available under this section more than twenty days before an election. 2. a. Each person who wishes to vote by absentee ballot at the commissioner’s office shall first sign an application for a ballot including the following information: name, current address, voter verification number, and the election for which the ballot is requested. The person may report a change of address or other information on the person’s voter registration record at that time. Prior to furnishing a ballot, the commissioner shall verify the person’s identity as provided in section 49.78. The registered voter shall immediately mark the ballot; enclose the ballot in a secrecy envelope, if necessary, and seal it in the envelope marked with the affidavit; subscribe to the affidavit on the reverse side of the envelope; and return the absentee ballot to the commissioner. The commissioner shall record the numbers appearing on the application and affidavit envelope along with the name of the registered voter. b. For purposes of this subsection, “voter verification number” means the registered voter’s driver’s license number or nonoperator’s identification card number assigned to the voter by the department of transportation or the registered voter’s four-digit personal identification number assigned to the voter by the state commissioner pursuant to section 48A.10A, subsection 1. 3. A voter shall not vote or offer to vote any ballot except such as the voter has received from the commissioner. A voter voting an absentee ballot at the commissioner’s office shall not take or remove any ballot from the commissioner’s office. 4. During the hours when absentee ballots are available in the office of the commissioner, the absentee voting site is a polling place for purposes of section 39A.4, subsection 1, paragraph “a”.