Bill Text: NY S09521 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to absentee ballots for school district elections due to a religious commitment or following such applicant's religious teaching or tenet that forbids secular activity on that day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S09521 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S09521-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9521

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 16, 2024
                                       ___________

        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 due to a religious commitment

          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 of an election [he or she
     6  will] such voter expects to be:
     7    (1) absent from [the] their county of [his or her] residence; or
     8    (2) unable to appear at the polling place because of illness or  phys-
     9  ical  disability,  or  duties related to the primary care of one or more
    10  individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or because [he  or  she]
    11  such voter will be or is a patient in a hospital; or
    12    (3)  an  [inmate]  incarcerated  individual  or patient of a veteran's
    13  administration 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[.]; or
    20    (5) unable to be present due to such voter's observance of a religious
    21  commitment or following such voter's religious teaching  or  tenet  that
    22  forbids secular activity on that day.
    23    c.  The  application for an absentee ballot when filed must contain in
    24  each instance the following information:
    25    (1) Applicant's full name,  date  of  birth,  and  residence  address,
    26  including  the  street and number, if any, rural delivery route, if any,
    27  mailing address if different from the residence address and  an  address
    28  to which the ballot shall be mailed.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15598-01-4
        S. 9521                             2

     1    (2)  A  statement  that  the  applicant  is a qualified and registered
     2  voter.
     3    (3)  A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election the
     4  applicant expects in good faith to be in one of  the  following  catego-
     5  ries:
     6    (a)  absent  from  [the]  their  county  of  [his  or  her] residence;
     7  provided, however, if the applicant expects to be absent from such coun-
     8  ty for a duration covering more than one election and seeks an  absentee
     9  ballot  for  each  election,  [he or she] such applicant shall state the
    10  dates when [he or she  expects]  they  expect  to  begin  and  end  such
    11  absence; or
    12    (b) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or physical
    13  disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more individ-
    14  uals who are ill or physically disabled; or
    15    (c)  an  [inmate]  incarcerated  individual  or patient of a veteran's
    16  administration hospital; or
    17    (d) detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial
    18  or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for  an  offense  other
    19  than  a felony and stating the place where [he or she] such applicant is
    20  so detained or confined[.]; or
    21    (e) unable to be present due to such voter's observance of a religious
    22  commitment or following such voter's religious teaching  or  tenet  that
    23  forbids secular activity on that day.
    24    §  2.  Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 2018-b of the education
    25  law, as amended by chapter 46 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as
    26  follows:
    27    a. An applicant for such an absentee ballot shall submit  an  applica-
    28  tion  setting  forth  (1)  [his]  such  applicant's  name  and residence
    29  address, including the street and number, if  any,  or  town  and  rural
    30  delivery  route,  if any; (2) that [he] such applicant is or will be, on
    31  the day of the school district election, a qualified voter of the school
    32  district in which [he resides] they reside in that [he]  such  applicant
    33  is  or  will  be, on such date, over eighteen years of age, a citizen of
    34  the United States and has or will have resided in the district for thir-
    35  ty days next preceding such date; (3) that [he] such applicant  will  be
    36  unable  to  appear  to  vote in person on the day of the school district
    37  election for which the absentee ballot is requested  because  [he]  such
    38  applicant  is,  or  will  be on such day (a) a patient in a hospital, or
    39  unable to appear personally at the polling place on such day because  of
    40  illness  or  physical  disability  or (b) because [his] such applicant's
    41  duties, occupation, business, or studies will require [him] them  to  be
    42  outside  of the county or city of [his] their residence on such day, (c)
    43  because [he] such applicant will be on vacation outside  the  county  or
    44  city  of  [his] their residence on such day; [or,] (d) absent from [his]
    45  such  applicant's  voting  residence  because  [he]  such  applicant  is
    46  detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial or is
    47  confined  in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony;
    48  or (e) unable to be present due to  such  applicant's  observance  of  a
    49  religious  commitment,  or following such applicant's religious teaching
    50  or tenet that forbids secular activity on that day.    Such  application
    51  must  be  received  by the district clerk or designee of the trustees or
    52  school board at least seven days before the election if the ballot is to
    53  be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election, if the ballot is
    54  to be delivered personally to the voter.
    55    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.