2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 2 - School District Organization › Article 41 - District Meetings › Part 1 - General Provisions › 2018-D - Military Voters.

§  2018-d.  Military voters. 1. As used in this section, the following
terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Military service" means the military service of the state, or  of
the  United  States,  including the army, navy, marine corps, air force,
coast guard, merchant marine and all components thereof, and  the  coast
and  geodetic survey, the public health service, the national guard when
in the service of the United States pursuant to call as provided by law,
and the cadets or midshipmen of  the  United  States  Military  Academy,
United  States  Naval  Academy,  United States Air Force Academy, United
States Merchant Marine Academy and United States Coast Guard Academy.
(b) "Military voter" means a qualified voter of the state of New  York
who  is  in actual military service, as defined in paragraph (a) of this
subdivision, and by reason of such military service is absent  from  his
or  her  district on the day of registration or election, or a voter who
is discharged from such  military  service  within  thirty  days  of  an
election  and  the  spouse,  parent,  child  or  dependent of such voter
accompanying or being with him or  her,  if  a  qualified  voter  and  a
resident of the same school district.
(c)  "Military ballot" means the ballot prepared, printed and supplied
for use by the military 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.
(d)  "Military  address" means the mailing address of a military voter
other than his or her residence address in his or her school district.
(e) "Appropriate  school  board  of  education"  means  the  board  of
education  in  whose  jurisdiction  the  military  voter  resides  as  a
qualified voter.
2. A military voter may designate a preference to receive  a  military
ballot   by  mail,  facsimile  transmission  or  electronic  mail.  Such
designation shall remain in effect  until  revoked  or  changed  by  the
military voter. If a military voter does not designate a preference, the
board  of  education  shall  transmit the military ballot application or
military ballot by mail. If a military voter designates a preference for
facsimile transmission or electronic  mail  but  does  not  provide  the
necessary  facsimile  number  or  e-mail address, the board of education
shall transmit  the  voter  registration  application,  military  ballot
application   or  military  ballot  by  mail  and  request  the  omitted
information. All communications to the military voter shall include  the
mailing address of the board of education.
3.  Irrespective of the preferred method of transmission designated by
a  military  voter,  a  military  voter's   original   military   ballot
application and military ballot must be returned by mail or in person.
4.   Ballots   for  military  voters  shall  be  mailed  or  otherwise
distributed by the board of education, in accordance with the  preferred
method  of  transmission,  as  soon  as  practicable, but not later than
twenty-five days before any election as provided in  this  article,  and
fourteen  days before any election as provided in article fifty-three of
this title.
5. The military voter shall mark the military ballot provided  for  in
this article in the same manner as an absentee ballot. After marking the
ballot,  he  or  she  shall fold such ballot and enclose it in the inner
affirmation envelope bearing the military  voter's  affirmation  on  the
outside of the envelope and seal the envelope. He or she shall then sign
the   affirmation,  with  the  blanks  properly  filled  in.  The  inner
affirmation envelope  containing  the  military  ballot  shall  then  be
inserted  in  the  outer  envelope addressed to the appropriate board of
education,  which  shall  be  mailed  or  personally  delivered  to  the

appropriate  board  of education within the time limits provided by this
article.
6. The board of education shall cause all military ballots received by
it  before  the  close  of  the  polls  on  election  day  and showing a
cancellation mark of the United  States  postal  service  or  a  foreign
country's  postal  service, or showing a dated endorsement of receipt by
another agency of the United States government or are signed  and  dated
by  the  voter and one witness thereto, with a date which is ascertained
to be not later than the day before election and which must be  received
in  the  office  of the clerk of the school district not later than five
p.m. on the day of the election in order to be canvassed.
7. The board of inspectors shall thereafter process  such  ballots  in
the  same manner as provided in sections two thousand eighteen-a and two
thousand eighteen-b of this  article  for  the  canvassing  of  absentee
ballots.
8. The board of education shall determine, three days before the first
day  for  distribution  of military ballots, the names of all candidates
duly  nominated  for  public  office  and  the  amendments,   referenda,
propositions  and  questions  to  be  voted for on such ballots. If at a
later date the nomination of any candidate named on a military ballot is
found invalid, the ballot shall still be valid, but no vote cast for any
such candidate on such ballot shall be  counted  at  the  election.  The
failure  of any school board to include the name of any candidate or any
proposition or question on the military ballot shall in  no  way  affect
the  validity  of  the election with respect to the office for which the
nomination was made or the validity of the military  ballot  as  to  any
other matter.
9.  The department is authorized to take such steps and do such things
as, in its opinion, are necessary to make effective  the  provisions  of
any  other  section,  in  order  to  utilize  fully any federal or other
facilities in the distribution of military ballots.
10. The provisions of this section shall be  liberally  construed  for
the  purpose  of  providing military voters the opportunity to vote. The
department shall have power  to  adopt  and  promulgate  regulations  to
effectuate the provisions of this section.