N.Y. Town Law § 84-b: Early mail ballots for special town elections; special provisions

§ 84-b. Early mail ballots for special town elections; special

provisions. 1. Early mail ballots shall be provided for all special town

elections for which personal registration is required.

2. a. An applicant for such an early mail ballot shall submit an

application setting forth (1) their name and residence address,

including the street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery

route, if any; (2) that they are or will be, on the day of the election,

a qualified voter of the town in which they reside; and (3) that they

are registered in the town. Such application must be received by the

town clerk at least seven days before the election if the ballot is to

be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election, if the ballot is

to be delivered personally to the voter or their agent.

b. 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

ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

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

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 inspectors shall be satisfied that the applicant is

a qualified voter of the town, and entitled to vote by early mail

ballot, such board of inspectors shall place their name upon a list,

thereupon the applicant shall be issued or mailed an early mail ballot

and the town clerk shall make an appropriate entry on the list

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 town election. 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

Special Town Election

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

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

Town of ....................

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

The date of the election and name of the town shall be printed, and

the name of the voter, residence and district shall be written in by the

town clerk.

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

statement:

STATEMENT OF EARLY MAIL VOTER

I do declare that I will have been a citizen of the United States for

thirty days, and will be at least eighteen years of age, on the date of

the special town election; that I will have been a resident of this

state and of the town shown on the reverse side of this envelope for

thirty days next preceding the said election; that I am or on such date

will be, a registered voter of said town; 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 special town 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 special town 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 town clerk 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. a. The town clerk shall make a list of all persons to whom early

mail voter's ballots shall have been issued and keep such list on file

in their office 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

ballot 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 town clerk to the inspectors of election on election day.

b. Such list shall also be posted in a conspicuous place or places

during the election, and any qualified voter may challenge the

acceptance of the early mail voter's ballot of any person on such list,

by making their challenge and the reasons therefor known to the

inspectors of election before the close of the polls.

7. a. The town clerk 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 he

shall require, and such commissioner and officers and members of the

police force shall be authorized to render such assistance.

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

at the office of the town clerk of the district and be examined 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 of inspectors district 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 town clerk not later than five

P.M. on the day of the election.

9. The town clerk shall, on the day of the election, transmit all

early mail voters' envelopes, received by him in accordance with

subdivision eight of this section, to the inspectors of election.

10. If, at the 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 special town 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 town clerk. 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 town. 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 election inspectors shall forthwith

proceed to determine each objection including any written challenge

transmitted to them by the town 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 town clerk. 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 town clerk 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 district election, or, where voting machines

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

13. The provisions of this section shall apply to early mail ballots

in special town elections, notwithstanding any other provision of law.

The provisions of any other law as they relate to special town elections

not inconsistent herewith shall apply to the conduct of such elections.