NY Educ L § 2018-B (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 2 - School District Organization Article 41 - District Meetings Part 1 - General Provisions 2018-B - Absentee Ballots for School District Elections by Poll Registration.

§ 2018-b. Absentee  ballots  for  school  district  elections  by poll registration.    1.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  sections  two thousand  fourteen  and  two  thousand  eighteen-a  of this article, the trustees or the board of education of any common, union free, central or central high school district which does not  provide  for  the  personal registration  of  voters  for school district meetings and elections but which elects trustees or school board members by ballot,  shall  provide for  absentee ballots for the election of the trustees or members of the board and school district public library trustees, the adoption  of  the annual budget and school district public library budget and referenda.   1-a.  Notwithstanding the provisions of sections two thousand fourteen and two thousand eighteen-a of  this  article,  in  any  county  with  a population  of  one  million  or  more,  the  trustees  or  the board of education of any common, union free,  central  or  central  high  school district  which does not provide for the personal registration of voters for school district meetings and elections but which elects trustees  or school  board  members  by ballot shall provide for absentee ballots for the election of the trustees or members of the board and school district public library trustees, the adoption of the annual  budget  and  school district public library budget and referenda.   2.  * a.  An  applicant  for  such  an absentee ballot shall submit an application setting forth (1) his name and residence address,  including the street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if any; (2) that he is or will be, on the day of the school district election, a qualified voter of the school district in which he resides in that he is or  will  be, on such date, over eighteen years of age, a citizen of the United States and has or will have resided in the  district  for  thirty days  next  preceding such date; (3) that he will be unable to appear to vote in person on the day of the school district election for which  the absentee ballot is requested because he is, or will be on such day (a) a patient  in  a  hospital,  or unable to appear personally at the polling place on such day because of illness or  physical  disability,  provided that,  for  purposes of this paragraph, "illness" shall include, but not be limited to, instances where a voter is unable to appear personally at the polling place of the school district in which they are  a  qualified voter because there is a risk of contracting or spreading a disease that may  cause  illness  to the voter or to other members of the public, (b) because his duties, occupation, business, or studies will require him to be outside of the county or city of  his  residence  on  such  day,  (c) because  he  will  be  on  vacation  outside  the  county or city of his residence on such day; or, (d) absent from his voting residence  because he is detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial or  is  confined  in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony. Such application must be  received  by  the  district  clerk  or designee  of the trustees or school board at least seven days before the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the  day  before the election, if the ballot is to be delivered personally to the voter.   * NB Effective until January 1, 2022   * a.  An  applicant  for  such  an  absentee  ballot  shall  submit an application setting forth (1) his name and residence address,  including the street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if any; (2) that he is or will be, on the day of the school district election, a qualified voter of the school district in which he resides in that he is or  will  be, on such date, over eighteen years of age, a citizen of the United States and has or will have resided in the  district  for  thirty days  next  preceding such date; (3) that he will be unable to appear to vote in person on the day of the school district election for which  the absentee ballot is requested because he is, or will be on such day (a) a  patient  in  a  hospital,  or unable to appear personally at the polling place on such day because of  illness  or  physical  disability  or  (b) because his duties, occupation, business, or studies will require him to be  outside  of  the  county  or  city of his residence on such day, (c) because he will be on  vacation  outside  the  county  or  city  of  his residence  on such day; or, (d) absent from his voting residence because he is detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial or is confined in prison after conviction for an offense  other  than  a felony.  Such  application  must  be  received  by the district clerk or designee of the trustees or school board at least seven days before  the election  if  the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election, if the ballot is to be delivered personally to the voter.   * NB Effective January 1, 2022   b. (1) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are of such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, a brief  description  of such duties, occupation, business, or studies shall be set forth in such application.  (2)  Where  such  duties,  occupation, business, or studies are not of such a nature as ordinarily to require such  absence,  such  application shall  contain  a  statement  of the special circumstances on account of which such absence is required.   c. Where the applicant expects in good faith to be absent on  the  day of  the  election  because he will be on vacation elsewhere on such day, such application shall also contain the dates upon which he  expects  to begin  and end such vacation, the place or places where he expects to be on such vacation, the name and address of his employer, if any,  and  if self-employed or retired, a statement to that effect.   d.  Where  the absence is because of detention or confinement to jail, such application shall state whether  the  voter  is  detained  awaiting action  of the grand jury or is confined after conviction for an offense other than a felony.   e. Where a person is or would  be,  if  he  were  a  qualified  voter, entitled  to  apply  for  the right to vote by absentee ballot under the provisions of this section, his spouse, parent or child, if a  qualified voter  and  a resident of the same school district, shall be entitled to vote as  an  absentee  voter  upon  personally  making  and  signing  an application   in  accordance  with  the  preceding  provisions  of  this subdivision and showing that he expects to be  absent  from  the  school district  on  the  day  of  the  school  district  election by reason of accompanying or being with the spouse, child or parent who is  or  would be,  if he were a qualified voter, so entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot, and, in the event no  application  is  made  by such  spouse,  child or parent, such further information as the clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or  school  board  shall require.   f. Such application shall include the following statement to be signed by the voter.    I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of my  knowledge  and  belief, and I understand that if I make any material false statement in the foregoing statement of application  for  absentee ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.  Date......................Signature of Voter ...........................    g.  The  clerk of the school district or a designee of the trustees or school  board  shall  request  registration  lists  from  the  board  of elections pursuant to subdivision three of section 5-612 of the election  law   for  those  voters  whose  registration  record  has  been  marked "permanently disabled". An applicant whose ability to appear  personally at  the  polling place of the school district of which he is a qualified voter  is  substantially  impaired  by  reason  of  permanent illness or physical disability  and  whose  registration  record  has  been  marked "permanently  disabled" as determined by the board of elections pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and who has previously applied for  an absentee ballot shall be entitled to receive subsequent absentee ballots pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  this  section without making separate application for such absentee  ballot,  and  the  clerk  of  the  school district  or  a  designee  of the trustees or school board shall send an absentee ballot to such voter at his last known address with  a  request to the postal authorities not to forward same but to return same in five days  in  the  event  that  it cannot be delivered to the addressee. The clerk of the school district or a designee of  the  trustees  or  school board  shall  determine whether such ballot shall be sent by first class or by certified mail. All such ballots  shall  be  mailed  in  the  same manner as determined by the trustees or the board of education.   3. If, upon examining the application required under the provisions of subdivision  two  of  this  section,  and  upon such inquiry as it deems proper, the clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees  or school  board shall be satisfied that the applicant is a qualified voter of the district, and entitled to vote by absentee ballot, such clerk  of the  school  district  or designee of the trustees or school board shall cause to be issued or mailed to the applicant an absentee voter's ballot and the clerk of the school district or  designee  of  the  trustees  or school  board  shall make an appropriate entry on the poll list pursuant to section two thousand twenty-nine of this article.   4. The clerk of the school district or a designee of the  trustees  or school board shall also mail an absentee ballot to every qualified voter otherwise eligible for such ballot, who requests an absentee ballot from such  clerk  or  trustees  or school board designee in a letter which is signed by the voter and received by the  clerk  or  trustees  or  school board  designee  not  earlier  than the thirtieth day nor later than the seventh day before the election for which the ballot is first  requested and  which  states  the address where the voter resides and to which the ballot is to be mailed. The clerk or designee of the trustees or  school board  shall enclose with such ballot a form of application for absentee ballot. The absentee ballot of a voter  who  requested  such  ballot  by letter,  rather  than  application,  shall not be counted unless a valid application form, signed by such voter, is received by the clerk of  the school  district  or  designee of the trustees or school board with such ballot.   5. Ballots for absentee voters shall be, as nearly as practicable,  in the same form as those to be voted at the district election; if the vote at  such  election shall be by ballot, the absentee ballot shall conform to the regular ballot; if the vote of such election shall be  by  voting machine, the absentee ballot shall conform as closely as possible to the manner  in  which  the  names  of  the candidates, the questions and the propositions appear on the voting machines,  except  that  the  absentee ballot  shall  also  contain a space for a write-in or write-ins. On the back of such absentee ballots shall be printed words  "Official  Ballot, Absentee Voter."   6.  a. The clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or school board shall enclose each absentee voter's ballot in  an  envelope which shall be labelled:                             ELECTION MATERIAL                              PLEASE EXPEDITE    On one side of such envelope shall be printed:                       OFFICIAL BALLOT, ABSENTEE VOTER                                    for                         School District Election  Name of Voter .......................................................... Residence (street and number, if any) .................................. City (or Town) of ...................................................... County of .............................................................. School District ........................................................ School Election District (if applicable) ...............................    The  date  of  the  election  and name of the school district shall be printed, and the name of  the  voter,  residence,  school  district  and school election district (if applicable) shall be included.   b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the following statement:                         STATEMENT OF ABSENTEE VOTER    I  do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, and will be at least eighteen years of age on the date of the school district election; that I will have been a  resident  of  this  state  and  of  the  school district and school election district, if any, shown on the reverse side of  this  envelope  for thirty days next preceding the said election and that I am or on such date will be, a  qualified  voter  of  said  school district;  that I will be unable to appear personally on the day of said school district election at the polling place of the  said  district  in which  I am or will be a qualified voter because of the reason stated on my application heretofore submitted; that I have not qualified, or do  I intend  to vote, elsewhere than as set forth on the reverse side of this envelope; that I have not received or offered, do not expect to receive, have not paid, offered or  promised  to  pay,  contributed,  offered  or promised to contribute to another to be paid or used, any money or other valuable   thing,  as  a  compensation  or  reward  for  the  giving  or withholding of a vote at this school district  election,  and  have  not made  any  promise  to  influence  the giving or withholding of any such votes; that I have not made or become directly or indirectly  interested in  any  bet  or wager depending upon the result of this school district election; and that I have not been convicted of bribery or any  infamous crime, or, if so convicted, that I have been pardoned or restored to all the  rights  of  a  citizen,  without  restriction  as  to  the right of suffrage, or have received a certificate of relief from disabilities  or a  certificate  of  good conduct pursuant to article twenty-three of the correction law removing my disability to vote.    I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I  make  any  material false statement in the foregoing statement of absentee voter, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.    Date....................Signature of Voter ...........................    c.  The  envelope  shall  be gummed, ready for sealing, and shall have printed thereon, on the side opposite the statement, instructions as  to the  duties  of  the  voter  after  the  marking  of  the  ballot, which instructions  shall  include  a  specific  direction  stating  that  the  envelope  must  reach  the office of the clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or school board not later than five P.M. on the day of the election in order that his vote may be canvassed.   d.  A  person  who  shall  make  any  material  false statement in the statement of the absentee voter appearing on the  reverse  side  of  the envelope  as  provided  in  this  subdivision,  shall  be  guilty  of  a misdemeanor.   7. The clerk of the school district or designee  of  the  trustees  or school  board  shall make a list of all persons to whom absentee voter's ballots shall have been issued and maintain such list where it shall  be available  for  public  inspection during regular office hours until the day of the election. Any qualified voter may, upon examination  of  such list,  file  a written challenge of the qualifications as a voter of any person whose name appears on such list, stating  the  reasons  for  such challenge.  Such  written challenge shall be transmitted by the clerk or the designee of the trustees  or  school  board  to  the  inspectors  of election on election day.   8.  a. The clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or school board shall be authorized to call upon the commissioner of police and the officers and members of the police force for such assistance  in the  enforcement  of  the provisions of this section as such trustees or board shall require, and such commissioner and officers and  members  of the police force shall be authorized to render such assistance.   b.  The  clerk  of  the school district or designee of the trustees or school board may require any person to attend before it at the office of the clerk of the school district or the office of the  designee  of  the trustees  or school board and be examined by the trustees or board as to any matter in relation to which such trustees or board is charged with a duty under this section, and may issue a subpoena therefor. Each  member of  such  trustees  or  board shall be authorized to administer any oath that may be required or authorized by law in this connection.   9. No absentee voter's ballot shall be canvassed, unless it shall have been received in the office of the  clerk  of  the  school  district  or designee of the trustees or school board not later than five P.M. on the day of the election.   10.  The  clerk  of the district or designee of the trustees or school board shall, on the day of the election, transmit all  absentee  voters' envelopes,  received by him in accordance with subdivision eight of this section, to the inspectors of election.   11. If a person whose name is on an envelope as  a  voter  shall  have already voted in person at such school district election, or if there is no signature on the envelope, this envelope shall be laid aside unopened and be returned unopened to the clerk of the district or designee of the trustees or school board. If such person has not so voted in person, and if  no  objection is made, or if an objection made be not sustained, the envelope shall be opened and the ballot withdrawn without unfolding  and deposited in the proper box or boxes.   12. If the inspectors of election shall have received an envelope, and upon  opening  the same no ballot shall be found therein, the inspectors shall make a memorandum showing that the ballot  is  missing.  When  the casting  of  absentee  voters'  ballots  shall  have been completed, the inspectors shall ascertain the number of such ballots  which  have  been deposited  in  the  ballot box by deducting from the number of envelopes opened the number of missing ballots, and shall make a  separate  return thereof  in  duplicate. The number of absentee voters' ballots deposited in the ballot box shall be added to the number of other  ballots  to  be accounted  for  in the ballot box. Such ballots shall then be counted or canvassed by the inspectors of election along  with  the  other  ballots  cast  at  such  school  district election, or, where voting machines are used, shall be added to the votes recorded on such machines.