S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 3253--A 2009-2010 Regular Sessions I N S E N A T E March 13, 2009 ___________ Introduced by Sens. ADDABBO, DIAZ, DILAN, ESPADA, HASSELL-THOMPSON, C. JOHNSON, ONORATO, OPPENHEIMER, PERKINS, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- recommitted to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- 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. 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 to read as 7 follows: 8 b. [(1) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are of 9 such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, a brief description 10 of such duties, occupation, business, or studies shall be set forth in 11 such application. (2) Where such duties, occupation, business, or 12 studies are not of such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, 13 such application shall contain a statement of the special circumstances 14 on account of which such absence is required. 15 c. Where the applicant expects in good faith to be absent on the day 16 of the election because he will be on vacation elsewhere on such day, 17 such application shall also contain the dates upon which he expects to 18 begin and end such vacation, the place or places where he expects to be 19 on such vacation, the name and address of his employer, if any, and if 20 self-employed or retired, a statement to that effect. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03300-03-0 S. 3253--A 2 1 d.] Where the absence is because [of detention or confinement to] THE 2 VOTER IS DETAINED OR CONFINED IN jail[, such application shall state 3 whether the voter is detained] awaiting action of the grand jury or is 4 confined IN JAIL OR PRISON after conviction for an offense other than a 5 felony. 6 [e. Where a person is or would be, if he were a qualified voter, 7 entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot under the 8 provisions of this section, his spouse, parent or child, if a qualified 9 voter and a resident of the same school district, shall be entitled to 10 vote as an absentee voter upon personally making and signing an applica- 11 tion in accordance with the preceding provisions of this subdivision and 12 showing that he expects to be absent from the school district on the day 13 of the school district election by reason of accompanying or being with 14 the spouse, child or parent who is or would be, if he were a qualified 15 voter, so entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot, 16 and, in the event no application is made by such spouse, child or 17 parent, such further information as the board of registration shall 18 require. 19 f] C. Such application shall include the following statement to be 20 signed by the voter. 21 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of 22 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material 23 false statement in the foregoing statement of application for absentee 24 ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 25 Date.....................Signature of Voter .......................... 26 [g] D. An applicant whose ability to appear personally at the polling 27 place of the school district of which he OR SHE is a qualified voter is 28 substantially impaired by reason of permanent illness or physical disa- 29 bility and whose registration record has been marked "permanently disa- 30 bled" by the board of elections pursuant to the provisions of the 31 election law shall be entitled to receive an absentee ballot pursuant to 32 the provisions of this section without making separate application for 33 such absentee ballot, and the board of registration upon being advised 34 by the board of elections on or with the list of registered voters that 35 the registration record of a voter is marked "permanently disabled" 36 shall send an absentee ballot to such voter at his last known address 37 with a request to the postal authorities not to forward same but to 38 return same in five days in the event that it cannot be delivered to the 39 addressee. The board of education shall determine whether such ballot 40 shall be sent by first class or by certified mail. All such ballots 41 shall be mailed in the same manner as determined by the board of educa- 42 tion. The board of registration shall make an appropriate entry on the 43 registration indicating the fact that an absentee ballot has been sent 44 and the date of mailing. 45 S 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 46 have become a law.