STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7229
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to 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 a and c of subdivision 2 of section 2018-a of
2 the education law, as amended by chapter 616 of the laws of 2019, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 a. A qualified voter may vote as an absentee voter under this section
5 if [during all the hours of voting] on the [day] occurrence of an
6 election he or she [will] expects to be:
7 (1) absent from the county of his or her residence; or
8 (2) unable to appear personally at the polling place because of
9 illness or physical disability, or duties related to the primary care of
10 one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or because
11 he or she will be or is a patient in a hospital; or
12 (3) [an inmate] a resident or patient of a veteran's administration
13 hospital; or
14 (4) absent from his or her voting residence because he or she is
15 detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial, or
16 confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than
17 a felony, provided that he or she is qualified to vote in the election
18 district of his or her residence; or
19 (5) unable to be present due to his or her observance of a religious
20 commitment or following his or her religious teaching or tenet that
21 forbids secular activity on that day.
22 c. The application for an absentee ballot when filed must contain in
23 each instance the following information:
24 (1) Applicant's full name, date of birth, and residence address,
25 including the street and number, if any, rural delivery route, if any,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10767-01-3
S. 7229 2
1 mailing address if different from the residence address and an address
2 to which the ballot shall be mailed.
3 (2) A statement that the applicant is a qualified and registered
4 voter.
5 (3) A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election the
6 applicant expects in good faith to be in one of the following catego-
7 ries:
8 (a) absent from the county of his or her residence; provided, however,
9 if the applicant expects to be absent from such county for a duration
10 covering more than one election and seeks an absentee ballot for each
11 election, he or she shall state the dates when he or she expects to
12 begin and end such absence; or
13 (b) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical
14 disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more individ-
15 uals who are ill or physically disabled; or
16 (c) [an inmate] a resident or patient of a veteran's administration
17 hospital; or
18 (d) detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial
19 or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other
20 than a felony and stating the place where he or she is so detained or
21 confined; or
22 (e) unable to be present due to his or her observance of a religious
23 commitment or following his or her religious teaching or tenet that
24 forbids secular activity on that day.
25 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 2018-b of the education law, as amended
26 by chapter 46 of the laws of 1992, paragraph c as amended by chapter 26
27 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
28 2. a. An applicant for such an absentee ballot shall submit an appli-
29 cation setting forth:
30 (1) his or her full name, date of birth and residence address, includ-
31 ing the street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if
32 any, mailing address if different from the residence address and an
33 address to which the ballot shall be mailed;
34 (2) that he or she is or will be, on the day of the school district
35 election, a qualified voter of the school district [in which he resides
36 in that he is or will be, on such date, over eighteen years of age, a
37 citizen of the United States and has or will have resided in the
38 district for thirty days next preceding such date];
39 (3) [that he will be unable to appear to vote in person on the day of
40 the school district election for which the absentee ballot is requested
41 because he is, or will be on such day] a statement, as appropriate, that
42 on the day of such election the applicant expects in good faith to be in
43 one of the following categories:
44 (a) a resident or patient in a hospital, including a veteran's admin-
45 istration hospital, or unable to appear personally at the polling place
46 on such day because of illness or physical disability, or duties related
47 to the primary care of one or more individuals who are ill or physically
48 disabled; or
49 (b) [because his duties, occupation, business, or studies will require
50 him to be outside of the county or city of his residence on such day,]
51 absent from the county of his or her residence; provided, however, if
52 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; or
S. 7229 3
1 (c) [because he will be on vacation outside the county or city of his
2 residence on such day] unable to be present due to his or her observance
3 of a religious commitment, or following his or her religious teaching or
4 tenet that forbids secular activity on that day; or[,]
5 (d) [absent from his voting residence because he is] detained in jail
6 awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial or [is] confined in
7 jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than a felony and
8 stating the place where he or she is so detained or confined. [Such
9 application must be received by the district clerk or designee of the
10 trustees or school board at least seven days before the election if the
11 ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election, if
12 the ballot is to be delivered personally to the voter.]
13 b. [(1) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are of
14 such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, a brief description
15 of such duties, occupation, business, or studies shall be set forth in
16 such application.
17 (2) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are not of
18 such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, such application
19 shall contain a statement of the special circumstances on account of
20 which such absence is required.] Such application must be received by
21 the district clerk or designee of the trustees or school board at least
22 seven days before the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the
23 voter, or the day before the election, if the ballot is to be delivered
24 personally to the voter.
25 c. [Where the applicant expects in good faith to be absent on the day
26 of the election because he will be on vacation elsewhere on such day,
27 such application shall also contain the dates upon which he expects to
28 begin and end such vacation, the place or places where he expects to be
29 on such vacation, the name and address of his employer, if any, and if
30 self-employed or retired, a statement to that effect.
31 d. Where the absence is because of detention or confinement to jail,
32 such application shall state whether the voter is detained awaiting
33 action of the grand jury or is confined after conviction for an offense
34 other than a felony.
35 e. Where a person is or would be, if he were a qualified voter, enti-
36 tled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot under the
37 provisions of this section, his spouse, parent or child, if a qualified
38 voter and a resident of the same school district, shall be entitled to
39 vote as an absentee voter upon personally making and signing an applica-
40 tion in accordance with the preceding provisions of this subdivision and
41 showing that he expects to be absent from the school district on the day
42 of the school district election by reason of accompanying or being with
43 the spouse, child or parent who is or would be, if he were a qualified
44 voter, so entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot,
45 and, in the event no application is made by such spouse, child or
46 parent, such further information as the clerk of the school district or
47 designee of the trustees or school board shall require.
48 f.] Such application shall include the following statement to be
49 signed by the voter.
50 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of
51 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material
52 false statement in the foregoing statement of application for absentee
53 ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
54 Date................... Signature of Voter ...........................
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1 [g.] d. The clerk of the school district or a designee of the trustees
2 or school board shall request registration lists from the board of
3 elections pursuant to subdivision three of section 5-612 of the election
4 law for those voters whose registration record has been marked "perma-
5 nently disabled". An applicant whose ability to appear personally at the
6 polling place of the school district of which he or she is a qualified
7 voter is substantially impaired by reason of permanent illness or phys-
8 ical disability and whose registration record has been marked "perma-
9 nently disabled" as determined by the board of elections pursuant to the
10 provisions of this chapter and who has previously applied for an absen-
11 tee ballot shall be entitled to receive subsequent absentee ballots
12 pursuant to the provisions of this section without making separate
13 application for such absentee ballot, and the clerk of the school
14 district or a designee of the trustees or school board shall send an
15 absentee ballot to such voter at his or her last known address with a
16 request to the postal authorities not to forward same but to return same
17 in five days in the event that it cannot be delivered to the addressee.
18 The clerk of the school district or a designee of the trustees or school
19 board shall determine whether such ballot shall be sent by first class
20 or by certified mail. All such ballots shall be mailed in the same
21 manner as determined by the trustees or the board of education.
22 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.