1. Upon receipt of an application for an official ballot properly filled out and duly signed, or as soon thereafter as the official ballot for the precinct in which the applicant resides has been prepared, the county auditor, city auditor, or business manager of the school district, as the case may be, shall send to the absent voter by mail, at the expense of the political subdivision conducting the election, one official ballot, or personally deliver the ballot to the applicant or the applicant's agent, which agent may not, at that time, be a candidate for any office to be voted upon by the absent voter. The agent shall sign the agent's name before receiving the ballot and deposit with the auditor or business manager of the school district, as the case may be, authorization in writing from the applicant to receive the ballot or according to requirements set forth for signature by mark. The auditor or business manager of the school district, as the case may be, may not provide an absent voter's ballot to a person acting as an agent who cannot provide a signed, written authorization from an applicant. No person may receive compensation, including money, goods, or services, for acting as an agent for an elector, nor may a person act as an agent for more than four electors in any one election. A voter voting by absentee ballot may not require the political subdivision providing the ballot to bear the expense of the return postage for an absentee ballot.
2. If there is more than one ballot to be voted by an elector of the precinct, one of each kind must be included and a secrecy envelope and a return envelope must be enclosed with the ballot or ballots. The front of the return envelope must bear the official title and post-office address of the officer supplying the voter with the ballot and upon the other side a printed voter's affidavit in substantially the following form:
Precinct ______________________________________________
Name ________________________________________________
Residential Address _____________________________________
City ___________________________ ND Zip Code ____________
Under penalty of possible criminal prosecution for making a false
statement, I swear that I reside at the residential address provided
above, that I have resided in my precinct for at least thirty days
next preceding the election, and this is the only ballot I will cast
in this election.
Applicant's Signature ____________________________________
Date _________________________________________________
If the absent voter is unable to sign the voter's name, the voter shall mark (X) or use the applicant's signature stamp on the statement in the presence of a disinterested individual. The disinterested individual shall print the name of the individual marking the X or using the signature stamp below the X or signature stamp and shall sign the is interested individual's own name following the printed name together with the notation "witness to the mark".
3. Each individual requesting an absent voter's ballot under this chapter must be provided a set of instructions, prescribed by the secretary of state, sufficient to describe the process of voting by absent voter's ballot. The voting instructions must contain a statement informing the individual that the individual is entitled to complete the absent voter's ballot in secrecy.
4. Each individual requesting an absent voter's ballot under this chapter who cannot read the English language or who because of blindness or other disability is unable to mark the voter's ballot, upon request, may receive the assistance of any individual of the voter's choice, other than the voter's employer, an officer or agent of the voter's union, a candidate running in that election, or a relative of a candidate as described in subsection 2 of section 16.1-05-02, in marking the voter's ballot.