Bill Text: NY A01922 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to the information which must be included on applications for absentee ballots for school district elections.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-4)
Status: (Passed) 2019-12-10 - SIGNED CHAP.616 [A01922 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A01922-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relates to the information which must be included on applications for absentee ballots for school district elections.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-4)
Status: (Passed) 2019-12-10 - SIGNED CHAP.616 [A01922 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A01922-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ S. 2038 A. 1922 2019-2020 Regular Sessions SENATE - ASSEMBLY January 18, 2019 ___________ IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. CARLUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Educa- tion IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. GALEF, PAULIN, ORTIZ, SCHIMMINGER, JAFFEE, OTIS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CAHILL, COLTON, DINOW- ITZ, FINCH, GIGLIO, GOTTFRIED, GUNTHER, LIFTON, McDONOUGH, RIVERA, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to applications for absentee ballots for school district elections The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs b, c, d, e, f and g of subdivision 2 of section 2 2018-a of the education law, paragraph b as amended by chapter 136 of 3 the laws of 1991, paragraph c as amended by chapter 26 of the laws of 4 1994, paragraph d as amended by chapter 72 of the laws of 1988, para- 5 graphs e and f as added by chapter 219 of the laws of 1978 and paragraph 6 g as amended by chapter 825 of the laws of 1984, are amended and a new 7 paragraph h is added to read as follows: 8 b. [(1) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are of9such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, a brief description10of such duties, occupation, business, or studies shall be set forth in11such application. (2) Where such duties, occupation, business, or12studies are not of such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence,13such application shall contain a statement of the special circumstances14on account of which such absence is required.15c. Where the applicant expects in good faith to be absent on the day16of the election because he will be on vacation elsewhere on such day,17such application shall also contain the dates upon which he expects to18begin and end such vacation, the place or places where he expects to beEXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00244-01-9S. 2038 2 A. 1922 1on such vacation, the name and address of his employer, if any, and if2self-employed or retired, a statement to that effect.3d. Where the absence is because of detention or confinement to jail,4such application shall state whether the voter is detained awaiting5action of the grand jury or is confined after conviction for an offense6other than a felony.7e. Where a person is or would be, if he were a qualified voter, enti-8tled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot under the9provisions of this section, his spouse, parent or child, if a qualified10voter and a resident of the same school district, shall be entitled to11vote as an absentee voter upon personally making and signing an applica-12tion in accordance with the preceding provisions of this subdivision and13showing that he expects to be absent from the school district on the day14of the school district election by reason of accompanying or being with15the spouse, child or parent who is or would be, if he were a qualified16voter, so entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot,17and, in the event no application is made by such spouse, child or18parent, such further information as the board of registration shall19require.20f] A qualified voter may vote as an absentee voter under this section 21 if during all the hours of voting on the day of an election he or she 22 will be: 23 (1) absent from the county of his or her residence; or 24 (2) unable to appear at the polling place because of illness or phys- 25 ical disability, or duties related to the primary care of one or more 26 individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or because he or she 27 will be or is a patient in a hospital; or 28 (3) an inmate or patient of a veteran's administration hospital; or 29 (4) absent from his or her voting residence because he or she is 30 detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial, or 31 confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than 32 a felony, provided that he or she is qualified to vote in the election 33 district of his or her residence. 34 c. Each person entitled to vote as an absentee voter pursuant to this 35 section and desirous of obtaining an absentee ballot shall make written 36 application therefor to the district clerk. Application forms for use 37 pursuant to this section shall be in a form prescribed by the state 38 board of elections. The use of any application which is on a form 39 prescribed by the state board of elections shall be acceptable. 40 d. The application for an absentee ballot when filed must contain in 41 each instance the following information: 42 (1) Applicant's full name, date of birth, and residence address, 43 including the street and number, if any, rural delivery route, if any, 44 mailing address if different from the residence address and an address 45 to which the ballot shall be mailed. 46 (2) A statement that the applicant is a qualified and registered 47 voter. 48 (3) A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election the 49 applicant expects in good faith to be in one of the following catego- 50 ries: 51 (a) absent from the county of his or her residence; provided, however, 52 if the applicant expects to be absent from such county for a duration 53 covering more than one election and seeks an absentee ballot for each 54 election, he or she shall state the dates when he or she expects to 55 begin and end such absence; orS. 2038 3 A. 1922 1 (b) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical 2 disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more individ- 3 uals who are ill or physically disabled; or 4 (c) an inmate or patient of a veteran's administration hospital; or 5 (d) detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial 6 or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other 7 than a felony and stating the place where he or she is so detained or 8 confined. 9 e. Such application shall include the following statement to be 10 signed by the voter. 11 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of 12 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material 13 false statement in the foregoing statement of application for absentee 14 ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 15 Date.....................Signature of Voter .......................... 16 [g] f. An applicant whose ability to appear personally at the polling 17 place of the school district of which he or she is a qualified voter is 18 substantially impaired by reason of permanent illness or physical disa- 19 bility and whose registration record has been marked "permanently disa- 20 bled" by the board of elections pursuant to the provisions of the 21 election law shall be entitled to receive an absentee ballot pursuant to 22 the provisions of this section without making separate application for 23 such absentee ballot, and the board of registration upon being advised 24 by the board of elections on or with the list of registered voters that 25 the registration record of a voter is marked "permanently disabled" 26 shall send an absentee ballot to such voter at his last known address 27 with a request to the postal authorities not to forward same but to 28 return same in five days in the event that it cannot be delivered to the 29 addressee. The board of education shall determine whether such ballot 30 shall be sent by first class or by certified mail. All such ballots 31 shall be mailed in the same manner as determined by the board of educa- 32 tion. The board of registration shall make an appropriate entry on the 33 registration indicating the fact that an absentee ballot has been sent 34 and the date of mailing. 35 g. An application must be received by the district clerk no earlier 36 than the thirtieth day before the election for which an absentee ballot 37 is sought. If the application requests that the absentee ballot be 38 mailed, such application must be received not later than seven days 39 before the election. If the applicant or his or her agent delivers the 40 application to the district clerk in person, such application must be 41 received not later than the day before the election. The district clerk 42 shall examine each application and shall determine from the information 43 contained therein whether the applicant is qualified under this section 44 to receive an absentee ballot. 45 h. No later than six days before the election for which an application 46 has been received and for which the district clerk has determined the 47 applicant to be qualified to vote by absentee ballot the district clerk 48 shall mail, by regular mail, an absentee ballot to each qualified appli- 49 cant who has applied before such day and who has requested that such 50 absentee ballot be mailed to him or her at the address set forth in his 51 or her application. If the applicant or his or her agent delivers the 52 application to the district clerk in person after the seventh day before 53 the election and not later than the day before the election, the 54 district clerk shall forthwith deliver such absentee ballots for thoseS. 2038 4 A. 1922 1 applicants whom he or she determines are qualified to make such applica- 2 tions and to receive such ballots to such applicants or the agents named 3 in the applications when such applicants or agents appear in the 4 district clerk's office. 5 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 6 have become a law.