N.Y. Election Law § 4-117: Check of registrants and information notice by mail

§ 4-117. Check of registrants and information notice by mail. 1. The

board of elections, between the third Tuesday in April and the second

Friday in May in each year, shall send by mail on which is endorsed such

language designated by the state board of elections to ensure postal

authorities do not forward such mail but return it to the board of

elections with forwarding information, when it cannot be delivered as

addressed and which contains a request that any such mail received for

persons not residing at the address be dropped back in the mail, a

communication, in a form approved by the state board of elections, to

every registered voter who has been registered without a change of

address since the beginning of such year, except that the board of

elections shall not be required to send such communications to voters in

inactive status. The communication shall notify the voter in bold print

contained in such notice of the days and hours of the ensuing primary

and general elections, the place where he or she appears by his or her

registration records to be entitled to vote, and also in other than bold

type of the fact that voters who have moved or will have moved from the

address where they were last registered must either notify the board of

elections of his or her new address or vote by paper ballot at the

polling place for his or her new address even if such voter has not

re-registered, or otherwise notified the board of elections of the

change of address. If the primary will not be held on the first Tuesday

after the second Monday in September, the communication shall contain a

conspicuous notice in all capital letters and bold font notifying the

voter of the primary date. If the location of the polling place for the

voter's election district has been moved, the communication shall

contain the following legend in bold type: "YOUR POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN

CHANGED. YOU NOW VOTE AT..........". The communication shall indicate

that any registered voter may vote early by mail by applying for an

early mail ballot, and provide information on how to apply for an early

mail ballot. The communication shall also indicate whether the polling

place is accessible to physically disabled voters, that a voter who will

be out of the city or county on the day of the primary or general

election or a voter who is ill or physically disabled may obtain an

absentee ballot, that a physically disabled voter whose polling place is

not accessible may request that his registration record be moved to an

election district which has a polling place which is accessible, the

phone number to call for applications to move a registration record or

for early mail or absentee ballot applications, the phone number to call

for the location of registration and polling places, the phone number to

call to indicate that the voter is willing to serve on election day as

an election inspector, poll clerk, interpreter or in other capacities,

the phone number to call to obtain an application for registration by

mail, and such other information concerning the elections or

registration as the board may include. In lieu of sending such

communication to every registered voter, the board of elections may send

a single communication to a household containing more than one

registered voter, provided that the names of all such voters appear as

part of the address on such communication.

1-a. The notice required by subdivision one of this section shall

include the dates, hours and locations of early voting for the general

and primary election. The board of elections may alternatively satisfy

the notice requirement of this subdivision by providing in the notice

instructions to obtain the required early voting information by means of

a website and phone number of the board of elections.

2. Whenever a ballot proposal is to be submitted to the people for

approval at any election, the board of elections may send to every

registered voter, by the same mail containing the communication required

by this section, a copy of the abstract of such ballot proposal.

3. Each year, in the month of December, the commissioners of every

local board of elections shall file with the state board of elections,

on a form provided therefor by such state board, a statement setting

forth the approximate number of communications mailed pursuant to the

requirements of this section and the approximate number of such

communications returned by the post office. Such statement shall be

sworn or subscribed to and bear a form notice that false statements made

therein are punishable as a class A misdemeanor pursuant to section

210.45 of the penal law. The failure of a local board of elections to

file such a certificate in any year, within the time prescribed, shall

create a presumption that such board of elections did not mail such

communications in such year. Not later than January thirty-first of each

year, the state board of elections shall publish a chart listing, by

county, the numbers contained in the certificates required to be filed

by each local board of elections in December of the previous year

pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision.