2023 New York Laws › TWN - Town › Article 6 - Town Elections › 84-B - Early Mail Ballots for Special Town Elections; Special Provisions.

§  84-b.  Early  mail  ballots  for  special  town  elections; special
  provisions. 1. Early mail ballots shall be provided for all special town
  elections for which personal registration is required.
2. a. An applicant for such an  early  mail  ballot  shall  submit  an
  application   setting  forth  (1)  their  name  and  residence  address,
  including the street and number, if any,  or  town  and  rural  delivery
  route, if any; (2) that they are or will be, on the day of the election,
  a  qualified  voter  of the town in which they reside; and (3) that they
  are registered in the town. Such application must  be  received  by  the
  town  clerk  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 or their agent.
b. 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 early mail
  ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
  Date ............... Signature of Voter ................................
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 inspectors shall be satisfied that the applicant is
  a qualified voter of the town,  and  entitled  to  vote  by  early  mail
  ballot,  such  board  of  inspectors shall place their name upon a list,
  thereupon the applicant shall be issued or mailed an early  mail  ballot
  and  the  town  clerk  shall  make  an  appropriate  entry  on  the list
  indicating that an early mail ballot has been applied for by, and issued
  to, the applicant.
4. Ballots for early mail voters shall be, as nearly  as  practicable,
  in  the same form as those to be voted at the town election. On the back
  of such early mail ballots shall be printed the words "Official  Ballot,
  Early Mail Voter".
5.  a. The board of registration shall enclose each early mail 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, EARLY MAIL VOTER
for
Special Town Election
  Name of Voter ................
  Residence (street and number, if any) .......
  Town of ....................
  County of ...................
The date of the election and name of the town shall  be  printed,  and
  the name of the voter, residence and district shall be written in by the
  town clerk.
b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the following
  statement:
STATEMENT OF EARLY MAIL VOTER
I  do declare that I will have been a citizen of the United States for
  thirty days, and will be at least eighteen years of age, on the date  of
  the  special  town  election;  that  I will have been a resident of this
  state and of the town shown on the reverse side  of  this  envelope  for
  thirty  days next preceding the said election; that I am or on such date
  will be, a registered voter of said town; 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 special town 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 special town 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 early mail 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 town clerk not later than five
  P.M. on the day of  the  election  in  order  that  their  vote  may  be
  canvassed.
d.  A  person  who  shall  make  any  material  false statement in the
  statement of early mail voter appearing  on  the  reverse  side  of  the
  envelope  as  provided  in  this  subdivision,  shall  be  guilty  of  a
  misdemeanor.
6. a. The town clerk shall make a list of all persons  to  whom  early
  mail  voter's  ballots shall have been issued and keep such list on file
  in their office 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  early  mail
  ballot  may  not be made on the basis that the voter should have applied
  for an absentee ballot. Such written challenge shall be  transmitted  by
  the town clerk to the inspectors of election on election day.
b.  Such  list  shall  also be posted in a conspicuous place or places
  during  the  election,  and  any  qualified  voter  may  challenge   the
  acceptance  of the early mail voter's ballot of any person on such list,
  by making  their  challenge  and  the  reasons  therefor  known  to  the
  inspectors of election before the close of the polls.
7. a. The town clerk 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  he
  shall  require,  and  such  commissioner and officers and members of the
  police force shall be authorized to render such assistance.
b. The board of inspectors may require any person to attend before  it
  at  the  office  of the town clerk of the district and be examined 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 of inspectors district shall be authorized to administer any  oath
  that may be required or authorized by law in this connection.
8.  No  early  mail voter's ballot shall be canvassed, unless it shall
  have been received in the office of the town clerk not later  than  five
  P.M.  on the day of the election.
9.  The  town  clerk  shall,  on the day of the election, transmit all
  early mail  voters'  envelopes,  received  by  him  in  accordance  with
  subdivision eight of this section, to the inspectors of election.
10.  If,  at the election, any early mail 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 special town election, or if their  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 town clerk. 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
  deposited in the proper box or boxes. At the time of the deposit of such
  ballot, the inspectors shall enter the words "early  mail  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 that  the  person  named  thereon  is  not  a
  qualified  voter  of the town. 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.  The election inspectors shall forthwith
  proceed to determine each  objection  including  any  written  challenge
  transmitted  to them by the town 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 town clerk. 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  town  clerk  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  early  mail  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 early mail 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 district election, or, where voting machines
  are used, shall be added to the votes recorded on such machines.
13.  The  provisions of this section shall apply to early mail ballots
  in special town elections, notwithstanding any other provision  of  law.
  The provisions of any other law as they relate to special town elections
  not inconsistent herewith shall apply to the conduct of such elections.