N.Y. Education Law § 2018-e: Early mail ballots for school district elections

§ 2018-e. Early mail ballots for school district elections. 1. The

board of education of any union free, central or central high school

district which elects school board members by ballot and provides for

personal registration of voters, shall provide for early mail ballots

for the election of members of the board of education and school

district public library trustees, the adoption of the annual budget and

school district public library budget and referenda, in accordance with

the provisions of this section.

1-a. In counties with a population of one million or more, the board

of education of any union free, central or central high school district

which elects school board members by ballot and provides for personal

registration of voters shall provide for early mail ballots for the

election of members of the board of education and school district public

library trustees, the adoption of the annual budget and school district

public library budget and referenda, in accordance with the provisions

of this section.

2. a. A qualified voter may vote as an early mail voter under this

section.

b. Each person entitled to vote as an early mail voter pursuant to

this section and desirous of obtaining an early mail ballot shall make

written application therefor to the district clerk. Application forms

for use pursuant to this section shall be in a form prescribed by the

state board of elections. The use of any application which is on a form

prescribed by the state board of elections shall be acceptable.

c. The application for an early mail ballot when filed must contain in

each instance the following information:

(1) Applicant's full name, date of birth, and residence address,

including the street and number, if any, rural delivery route, if any,

mailing address if different from the residence address and an address

to which the ballot shall be mailed.

(2) A statement that the applicant is a qualified and registered

voter.

d. Such application shall include the following statement to be signed

by the voter:

I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of

my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material

false statement in the foregoing statement of application for early mail

ballot, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Date.....................Signature of Voter............................

e. An application must be received by the district clerk no earlier

than the thirtieth day before the election for which an early mail

ballot is sought. If the application requests that the early mail ballot

be mailed, such application must be received not later than seven days

before the election. If the applicant or their agent delivers the

application to the district clerk in person, such application must be

received not later than the day before the election. The district clerk

shall examine each application and shall determine from the information

contained therein whether the applicant is qualified under this section

to receive an early mail ballot.

f. No later than six days before the election for which an application

has been received and for which the district clerk has determined the

applicant to be qualified to vote by early mail ballot the district

clerk shall mail, by regular mail, an early mail ballot to each

qualified applicant who has applied before such day and who has

requested that such early mail ballot be mailed to him or her at the

address set forth in their application. If the applicant or their agent

delivers the application to the district clerk in person after the

seventh day before the election and not later than the day before the

election, the district clerk shall forthwith deliver such early mail

ballots for those applicants whom he or she determines are qualified to

make such applications and to receive such ballots to such applicants or

the agents named in the applications when such applicants or agents

appear in the district clerk's office.

3. If, upon examining the application required under the provisions of

subdivision two of this section, and upon such inquiry as it deems

proper, the board of registration shall be satisfied that the applicant

is a qualified voter of the district entitled to vote by early mail

ballot, such board shall place their name upon the register, thereupon

the applicant shall be issued or mailed an early mail voter's ballot and

the board of registration shall make an appropriate entry on the

register indicating that an early mail ballot has been applied for by,

and issued to, the applicant.

4. Ballots for early mail voters shall be, as nearly as practicable,

in the same form as those to be voted at the district election; if the

vote at such election shall be by ballot, the early mail ballot shall

conform to the regular ballot; if the vote of such election shall be by

voting machine, the early mail ballot shall conform as closely as

possible to the manner in which the names of the candidates, the

questions and the propositions appear on the voting machines, except

that the early mail ballot shall also contain a space for a write-in or

write-ins. Such early mail ballots shall also contain instructions as to

the proper marking thereof, in accordance with the provisions of

sections two thousand thirty-two and two thousand thirty-four of this

part. On the back of such early mail ballots shall be printed the words

"Official Ballot, Early Mail Voter".

5. a. The board of registration shall enclose each early mail voter's

ballot in an envelope which shall be labelled:

ELECTION MATERIAL

PLEASE EXPEDITE

On one side of such envelope shall be printed:

OFFICIAL BALLOT, EARLY MAIL VOTER

for

School District Election

Name of Voter ..............

Residence (street and number, if any) ......

City (or Town) of .............

County of .................

School District ..............

School Election District (if applicable) ......

The date of the election and name of the school district shall be

printed, and the name of the voter, residence, school district and

school election district (if applicable) shall be written in by the

board of registration.

b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the following

statement:

STATEMENT OF EARLY MAIL VOTER

I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, and will be at

least eighteen years of age, on the date of the school district

election; that I will have been a resident of this state and of the

school district and school election district, if any, shown on the

reverse side of this envelope for thirty days next preceding the said

election and duly registered in the school district and school election

district, if any, shown on the reverse side of this envelope and that I

am or on such date will be, a qualified voter of said school district;

that I have not qualified, or do I intend to vote, elsewhere than as set

forth on the reverse side of this envelope; that I have not received or

offered, do not expect to receive, have not paid, offered or promised to

pay, contributed, offered or promised to contribute to another to be

paid or used, any money or other valuable thing, as a compensation or

reward for the giving or withholding of a vote at this school district

election, and have not made any promise to influence the giving or

withholding of any such votes; that I have not made or become directly

or indirectly interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result

of this school district election; and that I have not been convicted of

bribery or any infamous crime, or, if so convicted, that I have been

pardoned or restored to all the rights of a citizen, without restriction

as to the right of suffrage, or received a certificate of relief from

disabilities or a certificate of good conduct pursuant to article

twenty-three of the correction law removing my disability to register

and vote.

I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of

my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material

false statement in the foregoing statement of early mail voter, I shall

be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Date................... Signature of Voter............................

c. The envelope shall be gummed, ready for sealing, and shall have

printed thereon, on the side opposite the statement, instructions as to

the duties of the voter after the marking of the ballot, which

instructions shall include a specific direction stating that the

envelope must reach the office of the clerk of the school district not

later than five P.M. on the day of the election in order that their vote

may be canvassed.

d. A person who shall make any material false statement in the

statement of early mail voter appearing on the reverse side of the

envelope as provided in this subdivision, shall be guilty of a

misdemeanor.

6. The board of registration shall make a list of all persons to whom

early mail voter's ballots shall have been issued and file such list in

the office of the clerk where it shall be available for public

inspection during regular office hours until the day of the election.

Any qualified voter may, upon examination of such list, file a written

challenge of the qualifications as a voter of any person whose name

appears on such list, stating the reasons for such challenge. A

challenge to an early mail voter may not be made on the basis that the

voter should have applied for an absentee ballot. Such written challenge

shall be transmitted by the clerk to the inspectors of election on

election day.

7. a. The board of registration shall be authorized to call upon the

commissioner of police and the officers and members of the police force

for such assistance in the enforcement of the provisions of this section

as such board shall require, and such commissioner and officers and

members of the police force shall be authorized to render such

assistance.

b. The board of registration may require any person to attend before

it at the office of the clerk of the school district and be examined by

the board as to any matter in relation to which such board is charged

with a duty under this section, and may issue a subpoena therefor. Each

member of such board shall be authorized to administer any oath that may

be required or authorized by law in this connection.

8. No early mail voter's ballot shall be canvassed, unless it shall

have been received in the office of the clerk of the school district not

later than five P.M. on the day of the election.

9. The clerk of the district shall, on the day of the election,

transmit all early mail voters' envelopes, received by them in

accordance with subdivision eight of this section, to the inspectors of

election.

10. If, at the school district election, any early mail voters'

envelopes shall have been received at the polling place, the inspectors

of election immediately after the closing of the polls shall examine

them, and shall compare the signature, if any, on each envelope with the

signature, if any, on the register, of the person of the same name who

registered from the same address. If the signatures are found to

correspond, the inspectors shall certify thereto by signing their

initials opposite the name of the voter at the appropriate place in the

register. If a person whose name is on an envelope as a voter, shall

have already voted in person at such school district election, or if

their name, residence and signature, as stated on the envelope, are not

on the register, or if there is no signature on the envelope, this

envelope shall be laid aside unopened and be returned unopened to the

clerk of the district. If such person is found to be registered and has

not so voted in person, and if no objection is made, or if an objection

made be not sustained, the envelope shall be opened and the ballot

withdrawn without unfolding and deposited in the proper box or boxes. At

the time of the deposit of such ballot, the inspectors shall enter the

words "early mail vote" at an appropriate place in the register.

11. During such examination any qualified voter present in the polling

place may object to the voting of the ballot contained in any envelope

upon the ground or grounds that the person named thereon is not a

qualified voter of the school district, or school election district

(where applicable). An inspector shall make such an objection if he

shall know or suspect that the person named on such envelope is not such

a qualified voter. The inspectors of election shall forthwith proceed to

determine each objection including any written challenge transmitted to

them by the district clerk as provided in subdivision six of this

section. Unless the inspectors, by majority vote, shall sustain the

objection, the chairman, or if he refuses, another inspector shall

endorse upon the envelope the objection and the words "not sustained,"

shall sign such endorsement, and shall open the envelope and deposit the

ballot as provided in this section. Should the inspectors, by majority

vote, sustain such objection, the objection and word "sustained" shall

be similarly endorsed upon the envelope, the envelope shall not be

opened nor the ballots therein canvassed, and such envelope shall be

returned unopened to the clerk of the district. If the inspectors of

election shall have received an envelope endorsed with the name of a

person who to the knowledge of the inspectors is deceased on the day of

the election, the inspectors shall return such envelope unopened to the

clerk of the district with the words "deceased--objection sustained"

endorsed on the envelope.

12. If the inspectors of election shall have received an envelope, and

upon opening the same no ballot shall be found therein, the inspectors

shall make a memorandum showing that the ballot is missing. When the

casting of early mail voters' ballots shall have been completed, the

inspectors shall ascertain the number of such ballots which have been

deposited in the ballot box by deducting from the number of envelopes

opened the number of missing ballots, and shall make a separate return

thereof in duplicate. The number of early mail voters' ballots deposited

in the ballot box shall be added to the number of other ballots

deposited in the ballot box in order to determine the number of all

ballots to be accounted for in the ballot box. Such ballots shall then

be counted or canvassed by the inspectors of election along with the

other ballots cast at such school district election, or, where voting

machines are used, shall be added to the votes recorded on such

machines.

13. Where the district shall have been divided into school election

districts pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of

this section shall be applicable, provided that any reference in this

section to the term "board of registration" shall in such case refer to

the board of registration appointed by the board of education for each

school election district, except that paragraph b of subdivision seven

of this section shall apply according to its terms.