Requires that nominating petitions for small city school district elections be submitted no later than thirty days prior to the election; provides for a ten-day period for objecting to any nominating petitions; outlines the duties of the clerk of the board of education in finalizing the ballot after the ten-day objection period; provides that certain provisions concerning the date of the drawing for the names on the ballot do not apply to small city school districts.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6846
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing deadlines
for finalizing and objecting to nominating petitions for small city
school board elections
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 2608 of the education law,
2 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 273 of the laws of 1987 and subdivi-
3 sion 2 as amended by chapter 502 of the laws of 1974, are amended to
4 read as follows:
5 1. Candidates for members of the board of education in a city school
6 district shall be nominated by petition directed to the board of educa-
7 tion and signed by at least one hundred persons qualified to vote at
8 school elections in such district. Such petition shall contain the names
9 and residences of the candidates for the vacancies in the board of
10 education to be filled at the annual election. Where a proposition has
11 been adopted by the voters of such district to require that each vacancy
12 on the board of education to be filled shall be considered a separate
13 specific office, a separate petition shall be required to nominate a
14 candidate to each separate office and such petition shall describe the
15 specific vacancy on the board of education for which the candidate is
16 nominated, which description shall include at least the length of the
17 term of office and the name of the last incumbent, if any. Such
18 petitions shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the board of
19 education between the hours of nine a.m. and five p.m., on or before the
20 [twentieth] thirtieth day preceding the day of the annual election. The
21 clerk shall refuse to accept petitions signed by an insufficient number
22 of qualified voters, or petitions which are not timely. Beginning on the
23 following day, and for a five-day period thereafter, qualified voters of
24 the district may object to the placement of one or more names on the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10697-01-3
A. 6846 2
1 ballot, on the following bases: insufficient number of signatures;
2 signatories who are not qualified to vote in such election; insufficient
3 candidate information; or failing to file before the deadline. The board
4 shall then have five days to examine each objection and determine wheth-
5 er to remove the names of one or more candidates from the ballot. The
6 clerk of the board of education shall finalize the ballot on the twenti-
7 eth day preceding the day of the annual election, in accordance with
8 subdivision two of this section, after the board has examined and
9 decided on all objections. If a candidate for whom a nominating petition
10 for the office of member of a board of education has been duly filed
11 withdraws such petition, dies or becomes otherwise ineligible to hold
12 such office at a time which is later than fifteen days before the last
13 day for the filing of nominating petitions as provided in this subdivi-
14 sion, the time for filing nominating petitions for such office shall be
15 extended to five p.m. on the fifteenth day after the date on which the
16 candidate withdrew, died or otherwise became ineligible to hold such
17 office, provided that no such nominating petition may be filed after
18 five p.m. on the seventh day preceding the election.
19 2. The board of education shall cause to be printed official ballots
20 containing the names of all candidates as above provided, except that
21 the board may refuse to have the names of ineligible candidates placed
22 on such ballots. The names of the candidates shall be [arranged] listed
23 in the order as determined by the drawing by lot in accordance with the
24 provisions of paragraph b of subdivision two of section two thousand
25 thirty-two of this [law] title. Such drawing shall be conducted by the
26 clerk of the board of education and shall be held on the twentieth day
27 preceding the day of the annual election. Blank spaces shall be provided
28 so that voters may vote for candidates who have not been nominated for
29 the offices to be filled at such elections. The form of such ballots
30 shall conform substantially to the form of ballots used at general
31 elections as prescribed in the election law. Such ballots shall be
32 printed at the expense of the city school district.
33 § 2. Paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section 2032 of the education
34 law, as amended by chapter 502 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read
35 as follows:
36 b. The names of all candidates for each separate specific office shall
37 be grouped together and at the top of each group shall be placed a
38 description of the separate specific office for which such candidates
39 are nominated, which description shall include at least the length of
40 the term of office and the name of the last incumbent, if any, and in
41 addition a direction that only one vote may be cast in each separate
42 group. The names of the candidates for each separate specific office
43 shall be listed in the order as determined by a drawing by lot. [Such]
44 Except for districts subject to the procedures in subdivision two of
45 section two thousand six hundred eight of this title, such drawing shall
46 be conducted by the clerk of the board of education and shall be held
47 the day after the last possible date for candidates to file a petition.
48 In the event that any candidate is not present in person or by a person
49 designated in a written proxy to accomplish the drawing, the district
50 clerk shall be authorized to act as proxy. In any district where a
51 proposition has been adopted pursuant to [paragraph] subdivision b of
52 section two thousand eighteen of this title, the names of all candidates
53 for vacancies upon the board of education shall be arranged according to
54 lot as prescribed in this section, and a direction shall be made that as
55 many candidates may be voted for as there are vacancies to be filled.
56 § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
