(1) Consistent with 13-13-212, MCA, an elector may apply for an absentee ballot by using a standardized form provided by rule by the secretary of state, or by making a written request which must include the applicant's birth date and must be signed by the applicant or by an agent designated pursuant to 13-1-116, MCA, except that if the election administrator can independently obtain the applicant's birth date, the application shall not be rejected for lack of the applicant's birth date. The request must be submitted to the election administrator of the applicant's county of residence within the time period specified in 13-13-211, MCA.

(2) The minimum acceptable prescribed form for an application for an absentee ballot must include a written request for the absentee ballot, the elector's birth date, and the elector's or the elector's agent's signature. Additional recommended statements include the election for which the elector is requesting an absentee ballot and the address to which the elector wants the ballot mailed. Electors are strongly encouraged to use the form available from election administrators, which appears in the forms booklet that is provided by the Secretary of State to each election administrator.

(3) Consistent with 13-13-213(1), MCA, and except as provided in 13-13-213(4), MCA, all absentee ballot application forms must be addressed to the appropriate election official. The elector may mail the application directly to the election administrator, deliver the application in person to the election administrator, or transmit it by facsimile pursuant to ARM 44.3.1403. An agent designated pursuant to 13-1-116, MCA, or a third party, may collect the elector's application and forward it to the election administrator.

(4) When applying for an absentee ballot under 13-13-212, MCA, or at any other time by written request of the elector, an elector may also request to be mailed an absentee ballot, subject to the procedures in (5) and (6), as soon as the ballot becomes available, for each subsequent election in which the elector is eligible to vote or only for each subsequent federal election in which the elector is eligible to vote for as long as the elector remains qualified to vote and resides at the address provided in the initial application.

(5) An election administrator who receives a request under (4) shall determine whether the elector's or the elector's agent's signature on the request matches the elector's or the elector's agent's signature on the elector's voter registration card, prior to placing the elector on a list of individuals who wish to receive absentee ballots in subsequent elections.

(6) The election administrator shall mail a forwardable address confirmation form, prescribed by the secretary of state in January of each year to each elector who has requested an absentee ballot for subsequent elections. The annual address confirmation form is for elections to be held between February 1 following the mailing through January of the next year. The form shall, in bold print, indicate that the elector may update the elector's mailing address using the form. The elector or elector's agent shall sign the form, indicate the address to which the absentee ballot should be sent, and return the form to the election administrator. If the form is not completed and returned, the election administrator shall remove the elector from the annual absentee list.

(7) In order for an elector to be sent an absentee ballot for an election under the procedures and during the period specified under (4) through (6), the elector shall return the confirmation form specified under (6) to the election administrator within the time period specified for receipt of absentee ballot applications under 13-13-211, MCA.

(8) An elector who has been removed from the annual absentee list may later request to be mailed an absentee ballot for subsequent elections.