STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7229--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. MAYER, CHU -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- recom-
mitted 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 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, paragraph a as amended and paragraph c as added by
3 chapter 616 of the laws of 2019, are 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] such voter expects to be:
7 (1) absent from [the] their 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] such voter 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] such voter's voting residence because [he
15 or she] such voter is detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury
16 or awaiting trial, or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for
17 an offense other than a felony, provided that [he or she] such voter is
18 qualified to vote in the election district of [his or her] such voter's
19 residence.
20 c. The application for an absentee ballot when filed must contain in
21 each instance the following information:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10767-02-4
S. 7229--A 2
1 (1) Applicant's full name, date of birth, and residence address,
2 including the street and number, if any, rural delivery route, if any,
3 mailing address if different from the residence address and an address
4 to which the ballot shall be mailed.
5 (2) A statement that the applicant is a qualified and registered
6 voter.
7 (3) A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election the
8 applicant expects in good faith to be in one of the following catego-
9 ries:
10 (a) absent from [the] their county of [his or her] residence;
11 provided, however, if the applicant expects to be absent from such coun-
12 ty for a duration covering more than one election and seeks an absentee
13 ballot for each election, [he or she] such applicant shall state the
14 dates when [he or she expects] they expect to begin and end such
15 absence; or
16 (b) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical
17 disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more individ-
18 uals who are ill or physically disabled; or
19 (c) [an inmate] a resident or patient of a veteran's administration
20 hospital; or
21 (d) detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial
22 or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other
23 than a felony and stating the place where [he or she] such applicant is
24 so detained or confined.
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] such applicant's full name, date of birth and residence
31 address, including the street and number, if any, or town and rural
32 delivery route, if any, mailing address if different from the residence
33 address and an address to which the ballot shall be mailed;
34 (2) that [he] such applicant is or will be, on the day of the school
35 district election, a qualified voter of the school district [in which he
36 resides in that he is or will be, on such date, over eighteen years of
37 age, a 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 such applicant's 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, such applicant shall state the dates when they expect to begin
55 and end such absence; or
S. 7229--A 3
1 (c) [because he will be on vacation outside the county or city of his
2 residence on such day; or,
3 (d) absent from his voting residence because he is] detained in jail
4 awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial or [is] confined in
5 jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than a felony and
6 stating the place where such applicant is so detained or confined.
7 [Such application must be received by the district clerk or designee of
8 the trustees or school board at least seven days before the election if
9 the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election,
10 if the ballot is to be delivered personally to the voter.]
11 b. [(1) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are of
12 such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, a brief description
13 of such duties, occupation, business, or studies shall be set forth in
14 such application.
15 (2) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are not of
16 such a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, such application
17 shall contain a statement of the special circumstances on account of
18 which such absence is required.] Such application must be received by
19 the district clerk or designee of the trustees or school board at least
20 seven days before the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the
21 voter, or the day before the election, if the ballot is to be delivered
22 personally to the voter.
23 c. [Where the applicant expects in good faith to be absent on the day
24 of the election because he will be on vacation elsewhere on such day,
25 such application shall also contain the dates upon which he expects to
26 begin and end such vacation, the place or places where he expects to be
27 on such vacation, the name and address of his employer, if any, and if
28 self-employed or retired, a statement to that effect.
29 d. Where the absence is because of detention or confinement to jail,
30 such application shall state whether the voter is detained awaiting
31 action of the grand jury or is confined after conviction for an offense
32 other than a felony.
33 e. Where a person is or would be, if he were a qualified voter, enti-
34 tled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot under the
35 provisions of this section, his spouse, parent or child, if a qualified
36 voter and a resident of the same school district, shall be entitled to
37 vote as an absentee voter upon personally making and signing an applica-
38 tion in accordance with the preceding provisions of this subdivision and
39 showing that he expects to be absent from the school district on the day
40 of the school district election by reason of accompanying or being with
41 the spouse, child or parent who is or would be, if he were a qualified
42 voter, so entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot,
43 and, in the event no application is made by such spouse, child or
44 parent, such further information as the clerk of the school district or
45 designee of the trustees or school board shall require.
46 f.] Such application shall include the following statement to be
47 signed by the voter.
48 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of
49 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material
50 false statement in the foregoing statement of application for absentee
51 ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
52 Date................... Signature of Voter ...........................
S. 7229--A 4
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] such applicant is a
7 qualified voter is substantially impaired by reason of permanent illness
8 or physical disability and whose registration record has been marked
9 "permanently disabled" as determined by the board of elections pursuant
10 to the provisions of this chapter and who has previously applied for an
11 absentee 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] such voter's last known address
16 with a request to the postal authorities not to forward same but to
17 return same in five days in the event that it cannot be delivered to the
18 addressee. The clerk of the school district or a designee of the trus-
19 tees or school board shall determine whether such ballot shall be sent
20 by first class or by certified mail. All such ballots shall be mailed in
21 the same manner as determined by the trustees or the board of education.
22 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.