2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 2 - School District Organization › Article 41 - District Meetings › Part 1 - General Provisions › 2018-A - Absentee Ballots for School District Elections.

§ 2018-a. Absentee ballots for school district elections. 1. The board
of  education of any union free, central or central high school district
which elects school board members by ballot and  provides  for  personal
registration  of  voters,  shall  provide  for  absentee ballots for the
election of members of the board of education and school district public
library trustees, the adoption of the annual budget and school  district
public  library  budget and referenda, in accordance with the provisions
of this section.
1-a. In counties with a population of one million or more,  the  board
of  education of any union free, central or central high school district
which elects school board members by ballot and  provides  for  personal
registration  of  voters  shall  provide  for  absentee  ballots for the
election of members of the board of education and school district public
library trustees, the adoption of the annual budget and school  district
public  library  budget and referenda, in accordance with the provisions
of this section.
2. a. A qualified voter may vote  as  an  absentee  voter  under  this
section  if  during all the hours of voting on the day of an election he
or she will be:
(1) absent from the county of his or her residence; or
(2) unable to appear at  the  polling  place  because  of  illness  or
physical  disability,  or  duties  related to the primary care of one or
more individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or  because  he  or
she will be or is a patient in a hospital; or
(3) an inmate or patient of a veteran's administration hospital; or
(4)  absent  from  his  or  her  voting residence because he or she is
detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting  trial,  or
confined  in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than
a felony, provided that he or she is qualified to vote in  the  election
district of his or her residence.
b.  Each person entitled to vote as an absentee voter pursuant to this
section and desirous of obtaining an absentee ballot shall make  written
application  therefor  to  the district clerk. Application forms for use
pursuant to this section shall be in a  form  prescribed  by  the  state
board  of  elections.  The  use  of  any  application which is on a form
prescribed by the state board of elections shall be acceptable.
c. The application for an absentee ballot when filed must  contain  in
each instance the following information:
(1)  Applicant's  full  name,  date  of  birth, and residence address,
including the street and number, if any, rural delivery route,  if  any,
mailing  address  if different from the residence address and an address
to which the ballot shall be mailed.
(2) A statement that the  applicant  is  a  qualified  and  registered
voter.
(3)  A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election the
applicant  expects  in  good  faith  to  be  in  one  of  the  following
categories:
(a) absent from the county of his or her residence; provided, however,
if  the  applicant  expects to be absent from such county for a duration
covering more than one election and seeks an absentee  ballot  for  each
election,  he  or  she  shall  state the dates when he or she expects to
begin and end such absence; or
(b) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical
disability or duties  related  to  the  primary  care  of  one  or  more
individuals who are ill or physically disabled; or
(c) an inmate or patient of a veteran's administration hospital; or
(d) detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial
or  confined  in  jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other

than a felony and stating the place where he or she is  so  detained  or
confined.
d. 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 ...........................
e.  An  applicant  whose  ability  to appear personally at the polling
place of the school district of which he or she is a qualified voter  is
substantially  impaired  by  reason  of  permanent  illness  or physical
disability and whose registration record has  been  marked  "permanently
disabled"  by  the  board of elections pursuant to the provisions of the
election law shall be entitled to receive an absentee ballot pursuant to
the provisions of this section without making separate  application  for
such  absentee  ballot, and the board of registration upon being advised
by the board of elections on or with the list of registered voters  that
the  registration  record  of  a  voter is marked "permanently disabled"
shall send an absentee ballot to such voter at his  or  her  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 board  of  education  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 board of
education. The board of registration shall make an appropriate entry  on
the  registration  indicating  the fact that an absentee ballot has been
sent and the date of mailing.
f. An application must be received by the district  clerk  no  earlier
than  the thirtieth day before the election for which an absentee ballot
is sought. If the application  requests  that  the  absentee  ballot  be
mailed,  such  application  must  be  received not later than seven days
before the election. If the applicant or his or her agent  delivers  the
application  to  the  district clerk in person, such application must be
received not later than the day before the election. The district  clerk
shall  examine each application and shall determine from the information
contained therein whether the applicant is qualified under this  section
to receive an absentee ballot.
g. No later than six days before the election for which an application
has  been  received  and for which the district clerk has determined the
applicant to be qualified to vote by absentee ballot the district  clerk
shall  mail,  by  regular  mail,  an  absentee  ballot to each qualified
applicant who has applied before such day and  who  has  requested  that
such absentee ballot be mailed to him or her at the address set forth in
his  or  her  application. If the applicant or his or her agent delivers
the application to the district clerk in person after  the  seventh  day
before  the election and not later than the day before the election, the
district clerk shall forthwith deliver such absentee ballots  for  those
applicants  whom  he  or  she  determines  are  qualified  to  make such
applications and to receive such  ballots  to  such  applicants  or  the
agents  named  in the applications when such applicants or agents appear
in the district clerk's office.
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 board of registration shall be satisfied that the applicant
is a qualified voter of the district, and entitled to vote  by  absentee

ballot, such board shall place his name upon the register, thereupon the
applicant  shall  be issued or mailed an absentee voter's ballot and the
board of registration shall make an appropriate entry  on  the  register
indicating  that  an absentee ballot has been applied for by, and issued
to, the applicant.
4. 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. Such
absentee ballots shall  also  contain  instructions  as  to  the  proper
marking  thereof,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions of sections two
thousand thirty-two and two thousand thirty-four of this chapter. On the
back of such absentee ballots  shall  be  printed  the  words  "Official
Ballot, Absentee Voter."
5.  a.  The  board of registration 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  written  in  by  the
board of registration.
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 duly registered in the school district and school  election
district,  if any, shown on the reverse side of this envelope 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 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 register and 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 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 absentee  voter  appearing  on  the  reverse  side  of  the
envelope  as  provided  in  this  subdivision,  shall  be  guilty  of  a
misdemeanor.
6. The board of registration shall make a list of all persons to  whom
absentee  voter's  ballots  shall have been issued and file such list in
the office  of  the  clerk  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.  A
challenge  to  an  absentee ballot may not be made on the basis that the
voter should have  applied  for  an  early  mail  ballot.  Such  written
challenge  shall  be  transmitted  by  the  clerk  to  the inspectors of
election on election day.
7. a. The board of registration 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 board shall require, and  such  commissioner  and  officers  and
members  of  the  police  force  shall  be  authorized  to  render  such
assistance.
b. The board of registration may require any person to  attend  before
it  at the office of the clerk of the school district and be examined by
the board as to any matter in relation to which such  board  is  charged

with  a duty under this section, and may issue a subpoena therefor. Each
member of such board shall be authorized to administer any oath that may
be required or authorized by law in this connection.
8. No absentee voter's ballot shall be canvassed, unless it shall have
been  received  in  the  office  of the clerk of the school district not
later than five P.M. on the day of the election.
9. The clerk of the district  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.
10.  If,  at  the  school  district  election,  any  absentee  voters'
envelopes  shall have been received at the polling place, the inspectors
of election immediately after the closing of  the  polls  shall  examine
them, and shall compare the signature, if any, on each envelope with the
signature,  if  any, on the register, of the person of the same name who
registered from the  same  address.  If  the  signatures  are  found  to
correspond,  the  inspectors  shall  certify  thereto  by  signing their
initials opposite the name of the voter at the appropriate place in  the
register.  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 his
name, residence and signature, as stated on the envelope, are not on the
register, 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. If such person is found to be registered and  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 desposited in the proper box or boxes. At the time
of the deposit of such ballot, the  inspectors  shall  enter  the  words
"absentee vote" at an appropriate place in the register.
11. During such examination any qualified voter present in the polling
place  may  object to the voting of the ballot contained in any envelope
upon the ground or grounds (a) that the person named thereon  is  not  a
qualified  voter  of  the  school  district, or school election district
(where applicable), or (b) that he was within the county or  city  while
the  polls  of  the  election were open, except where the applicant is a
patient in a hospital located within the county or city or  detained  or
confined  in  a  jail located within the county or city and except where
the  ballot  was  obtained  upon  the  ground  of  inability  to  appear
personally  at  the  polling  place  on  the  day of the school district
election because of illness or physical disability, or (c) that  he  was
able  to appear personally while the polls were open, in cases where the
ballot was obtained upon the ground that the voter was a  patient  in  a
hospital  located within the county or city or detained or confined in a
jail located within the county or city or upon the ground  of  inability
to  appear  personally  at  the polling place on the day of the election
because of illness or physical  disability,  or  (d)  that  he  was  not
entitled  to cast such ballot. An inspector shall make such an objection
if he shall know or suspect that the person named on  such  envelope  is
not  such  a qualified voter or was so within the school district or was
able so to appear personally, or was not entitled to cast  such  ballot.
The  election  inspectors  shall  forthwith  proceed  to  determine each
objection including any written challenge transmitted  to  them  by  the
district  clerk  as  provided in subdivision six of this section. Unless
the inspectors, by majority  vote,  shall  sustain  the  objection,  the
chairman,  or  if  he  refuses, another inspector shall endorse upon the
envelope the objection and the words "not sustained,"  shall  sign  such
endorsement,  and  shall  open  the  envelope  and deposit the ballot as
provided in this section.  Should  the  inspectors,  by  majority  vote,
sustain  such  objection,  the  objection  and word "sustained" shall be

similarly endorsed upon the envelope, the envelope shall not  be  opened
nor  the  ballots therein canvassed, and such envelope shall be returned
unopened to the clerk of the district. If  the  inspectors  of  election
shall  have  received an envelope endorsed with the name of a person who
to the knowledge of the  inspectors  is  deceased  on  the  day  of  the
election,  the  inspectors  shall  return  such envelope unopened to the
clerk of the district with  the  words  "deceased--objection  sustained"
endorsed on the envelope.
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
deposited  in  the  ballot  box  in order to determine the number of all
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.
13. Where the district shall have been divided  into  school  election
districts  pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of
this section shall be applicable, provided that any  reference  in  this
section  to the term "board of registration" shall in such case refer to
the board of registration appointed by the board of education  for  each
school  election  district, except that paragraph b of subdivision seven
of this section shall apply according to its terms.