STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 2038--A A. 1922--A
Cal. No. 127
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 -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and
second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered
reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
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 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
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. Subdivision 2 of section 2018-a of the education law, as
2 added by chapter 219 of the laws of 1978, paragraphs a and b as amended
3 by chapter 136 of the laws of 1991, paragraph c as amended by chapter 26
4 of the laws of 1994, paragraph d as amended by chapter 72 of the laws of
5 1988 and paragraph g as amended by chapter 825 of the laws of 1984, is
6 amended to read as follows:
7 2. a. [An applicant for such an absentee ballot shall submit an appli-
8 cation setting forth (1) his name and residence address, including the
9 street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if any; (2)
10 that he is or will be, on the day of the school district election, a
11 qualified voter of the school district in which he resides in that he is
12 or will be, on such date, over eighteen years of age, a citizen of the
13 United States and has or will have resided in the district for thirty
14 days next preceding such date; (3) whether he is registered in the
15 district; (4) that he will be unable to appear to vote in person on the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00244-02-9
S. 2038--A 2 A. 1922--A
1 day of the school district election for which the absentee ballot is
2 requested because he is, or will be on such day (a) a patient in a
3 hospital, or unable to appear personally at the polling place on such
4 day because of illness or physical disability or (b) because his duties,
5 occupation, business, or studies will require him to be outside of the
6 county or city of his residence on such day, (c) because he will be on
7 vacation outside the county or city of his residence on such day; or,
8 (d) absent from his voting residence because he is detained in jail
9 awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial or is confined in
10 prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony. Such appli-
11 cation must be received by the district clerk at least seven days before
12 the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day
13 before the election, if the ballot is to be delivered personally to the
14 voter.
15 b. (1) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are of such
16 a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, a brief description of
17 such duties, occupation, business, or studies shall be set forth in such
18 application. (2) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are
19 not of such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, such appli-
20 cation shall contain a statement of the special circumstances on account
21 of which such absence is required.
22 c. Where the applicant expects in good faith to be absent on the day
23 of the election because he will be on vacation elsewhere on such day,
24 such application shall also contain the dates upon which he expects to
25 begin and end such vacation, the place or places where he expects to be
26 on such vacation, the name and address of his employer, if any, and if
27 self-employed or retired, a statement to that effect.
28 d. Where the absence is because of detention or confinement to jail,
29 such application shall state whether the voter is detained awaiting
30 action of the grand jury or is confined after conviction for an offense
31 other than a felony.
32 e. Where a person is or would be, if he were a qualified voter, enti-
33 tled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot under the
34 provisions of this section, his spouse, parent or child, if a qualified
35 voter and a resident of the same school district, shall be entitled to
36 vote as an absentee voter upon personally making and signing an applica-
37 tion in accordance with the preceding provisions of this subdivision and
38 showing that he expects to be absent from the school district on the day
39 of the school district election by reason of accompanying or being with
40 the spouse, child or parent who is or would be, if he were a qualified
41 voter, so entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot,
42 and, in the event no application is made by such spouse, child or
43 parent, such further information as the board of registration shall
44 require.
45 f] A qualified voter may vote as an absentee voter under this section
46 if during all the hours of voting on the day of an election he or she
47 will be:
48 (1) absent from the county of his or her residence; or
49 (2) unable to appear at the polling place because of illness or phys-
50 ical disability, or duties related to the primary care of one or more
51 individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or because he or she
52 will be or is a patient in a hospital; or
53 (3) an inmate or patient of a veteran's administration hospital; or
54 (4) absent from his or her voting residence because he or she is
55 detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial, or
56 confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than
S. 2038--A 3 A. 1922--A
1 a felony, provided that he or she is qualified to vote in the election
2 district of his or her residence.
3 b. Each person entitled to vote as an absentee voter pursuant to this
4 section and desirous of obtaining an absentee ballot shall make written
5 application therefor to the district clerk. Application forms for use
6 pursuant to this section shall be in a form prescribed by the state
7 board of elections. The use of any application which is on a form
8 prescribed by the state board of elections shall be acceptable.
9 c. The application for an absentee ballot when filed must contain in
10 each instance the following information:
11 (1) Applicant's full name, date of birth, and residence address,
12 including the street and number, if any, rural delivery route, if any,
13 mailing address if different from the residence address and an address
14 to which the ballot shall be mailed.
15 (2) A statement that the applicant is a qualified and registered
16 voter.
17 (3) A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election the
18 applicant expects in good faith to be in one of the following catego-
19 ries:
20 (a) absent from the county of his or her residence; provided, however,
21 if the applicant expects to be absent from such county for a duration
22 covering more than one election and seeks an absentee ballot for each
23 election, he or she shall state the dates when he or she expects to
24 begin and end such absence; or
25 (b) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical
26 disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more individ-
27 uals who are ill or physically disabled; or
28 (c) an inmate or patient of a veteran's administration hospital; or
29 (d) detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial
30 or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other
31 than a felony and stating the place where he or she is so detained or
32 confined.
33 d. Such application shall include the following statement to be
34 signed by the voter.
35 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of
36 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material
37 false statement in the foregoing statement of application for absentee
38 ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
39 Date.....................Signature of Voter ..........................
40 [g] e. An applicant whose ability to appear personally at the polling
41 place of the school district of which he or she is a qualified voter is
42 substantially impaired by reason of permanent illness or physical disa-
43 bility and whose registration record has been marked "permanently disa-
44 bled" by the board of elections pursuant to the provisions of the
45 election law shall be entitled to receive an absentee ballot pursuant to
46 the provisions of this section without making separate application for
47 such absentee ballot, and the board of registration upon being advised
48 by the board of elections on or with the list of registered voters that
49 the registration record of a voter is marked "permanently disabled"
50 shall send an absentee ballot to such voter at his or her last known
51 address with a request to the postal authorities not to forward same but
52 to return same in five days in the event that it cannot be delivered to
53 the addressee. The board of education shall determine whether such
54 ballot shall be sent by first class or by certified mail. All such
S. 2038--A 4 A. 1922--A
1 ballots shall be mailed in the same manner as determined by the board of
2 education. The board of registration shall make an appropriate entry on
3 the registration indicating the fact that an absentee ballot has been
4 sent and the date of mailing.
5 f. An application must be received by the district clerk no earlier
6 than the thirtieth day before the election for which an absentee ballot
7 is sought. If the application requests that the absentee ballot be
8 mailed, such application must be received not later than seven days
9 before the election. If the applicant or his or her agent delivers the
10 application to the district clerk in person, such application must be
11 received not later than the day before the election. The district clerk
12 shall examine each application and shall determine from the information
13 contained therein whether the applicant is qualified under this section
14 to receive an absentee ballot.
15 g. No later than six days before the election for which an application
16 has been received and for which the district clerk has determined the
17 applicant to be qualified to vote by absentee ballot the district clerk
18 shall mail, by regular mail, an absentee ballot to each qualified appli-
19 cant who has applied before such day and who has requested that such
20 absentee ballot be mailed to him or her at the address set forth in his
21 or her application. If the applicant or his or her agent delivers the
22 application to the district clerk in person after the seventh day before
23 the election and not later than the day before the election, the
24 district clerk shall forthwith deliver such absentee ballots for those
25 applicants whom he or she determines are qualified to make such applica-
26 tions and to receive such ballots to such applicants or the agents named
27 in the applications when such applicants or agents appear in the
28 district clerk's office.
29 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
30 have become a law.