SB177

The amendment fundamentally shifts the bill from mandating that voters use only a black ink pen when marking optical scan ballots to instead clarifying that voters may use any pencil or marking instrument, while requiring election officials to provide black ink pens and absentee voting instructions but prohibiting them from rejecting ballots marked with other writing instruments. This substantially weakens the original bill's strict requirement by making black ink pens optional rather than mandatory.

The amendment substantially STRENGTHENS the bill by replacing a permissive standard (voters "may use a pencil or other marking instrument") with a mandatory requirement that election officials provide black ink pens to in-person voters and instruct absentee voters to use black ink pens, while prohibiting disqualification of ballots marked with other instruments. This shifts the bill from merely clarifying voter choice to establishing a concrete election administration standard that prioritizes ballot readability and machine scanning accuracy.