2023 New York Laws › ELN - Election › Article 7 - Election Ballot › Title 1 - Form of Ballots › 7-122 - Ballots; Absentee Voters.

§  7-122. Ballots; absentee voters. 1. (a) Ballots for absentee voters
shall be, as nearly as practicable, in the same  form  as  those  to  be
voted in the district on election day, except that such ballots need not
have  a  stub,  and  shall  have  the  words "Absentee Ballot", endorsed
thereon.
(b)  All  provisions  of  this  chapter  not  inconsistent  with  this
subdivision  shall  be  applicable  to  absentee  ballots  prepared  for
counting by a ballot scanner or by hand. The instructions for marking an
absentee ballot shall be provided and shall be substantially as follows,
so that they accurately reflect the ballot layout:
INSTRUCTIONS
Mark the (insert "oval" or "square") to the left of the name  of  your
choice. (Provide illustration of correctly-marked voting position here.)
To vote for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot, (insert
"mark  the oval (or square) to the left of 'write-in' and print the name
clearly" or "print the name clearly in  the  box  labeled  'write-in'"),
staying  within the box. Any mark or writing outside the spaces provided
for voting may void the entire ballot. You have a right to a replacement
ballot. If you make a mistake or want to  change  your  vote,  call  the
board of elections at (insert phone number here) for instructions on how
to  obtain  a  new  ballot.  The  number  of  choices is listed for each
contest. Do not mark the ballot for more candidates than allowed. If you
do, your vote in that contest will not count.
(c)  When  a  question  or  proposal  is  included  on   the   ballot,
instructions  substantially  similar  to  those  provided in subdivision
fifteen of section 7-104 of this article shall be included.
2. The determination of the appropriate county board of  elections  as
to  the  candidates  duly  designated  or nominated for public office or
party position whose name shall appear on the absentee ballot and as  to
ballot  proposals  to  be  voted  on shall be made no later than the day
after the state board of elections issues  its  certification  of  those
candidates  to be voted for at the general, special or primary election.
The determinations of the state board of elections  and  the  respective
county boards of elections shall be final and conclusive with respect to
such  offices  for  which  petitions  or certificates are required to be
filed with such boards, as the case may be but nothing herein  contained
shall prevent a board of elections, or a court of competent jurisdiction
from   determining   at  a  later  date  that  any  such  certification,
designation or nomination is invalid and, in the  event  of  such  later
determination,  no  vote cast for any such nominee by any voter shall be
counted at the election.
3. There shall be three envelopes for each absentee ballot  issued  by
mail:  the  inner  affirmation envelope into which a voter places his or
her voted ballot, the outer envelope which shall  be  addressed  to  the
absentee  voter,  and  the  mailing  envelope  which is addressed to the
county board of elections. The board of  elections  shall  furnish  with
each  absentee  ballot an inner affirmation envelope. On one side of the
envelope shall be printed:
OFFICIAL ABSENTEE BALLOT
for
GENERAL (OR PRIMARY OR SPECIAL) ELECTION,
 
 ........., 20.....
Name of voter.........................................
Residence (street and number if any)..................
City/or town of.......(village, if any)...............
County of.............................................

Assembly district ....................................
Legislative District (as applicable) .................
Ward (as applicable) .................................
Election District.....................................
Party Enrollment (in case of primary election)........
4.  The  date of the election, name of the county, and name of a city,
if there be a separate ballot for city voters, shall be printed, and the
name of the voter, residence, number of the assembly district,  if  any,
name  of  town,  number  of  ward,  if  any, election district and party
enrollment, if required, shall be either printed or written  or  stamped
in by the board.
5.  There  shall  also  be  a  place  for two board of elections staff
members or inspectors of opposite  political  parties  to  indicate,  by
placing  their  initials  thereon, that they have checked and marked the
voter's poll record and a box  labeled  "BOE  use  only"  for  notations
required   when  the  board  of  elections  reviews  affirmation  ballot
envelopes pursuant to section 9-209 of this chapter.
6. On the reverse side of such inner  affirmation  envelope  shall  be
printed the following statement:
AFFIRMATION
I  do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, that I am duly
registered in the election district shown on the reverse  side  of  this
envelope  and  I  am  qualified to vote in such district; that I will be
unable to appear personally on the day of the election  for  which  this
ballot is voted at the polling place of the election district in which I
am  a  qualified  voter  because  of  the reason given on my application
heretofore submitted; that I have not qualified nor do I intend to  vote
elsewhere,  that  I  have  not  committed  any  act  nor  am I under any
impediment which denies me the right 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.................20.....       .....................................
Signature or mark of voter
.....................................
Signature of Witness (required only
if voter does not sign his or her own
name)
.....................................
Address of Witness
7.  The inner affirmation 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
when  such ballot must be postmarked and when such ballot must reach the
office of the board of elections in order to be canvassed.
8. Each inner affirmation ballot envelope  shall  be  enclosed  in  an
outer  envelope  addressed  to  the  appropriate  board of elections and
bearing on it a specific direction that if an original  application  for
an absentee ballot is received with the ballot, such application must be
completed  by the voter and returned in the outer envelope together with
the sealed inner affirmation envelope  containing  the  absentee  ballot

within  the  time limits for receipt of the absentee ballot itself. Such
inner affirmation envelope and outer envelope shall be enclosed  in  the
third  envelope  addressed  to  the  absentee voter. The outer and third
envelopes  shall  have  printed  on the face thereof the words "Election
Material--Please Expedite".