§ 505-A — Election of retired teacher member of board

§ 505-a. Election of retired teacher member of board. 1. Election of\nretired teacher member. An election shall be held during the month of\nOctober, nineteen hundred ninety-three, and thereafter during the month\nof October immediately preceding the expiration of a term in office as\nprescribed in this section, for the purpose of electing the retired\nteacher member of the retirement board from among the retired members of\nthe retirement system. All retired members of the retirement system who\nare retired as of October first in the year in which such election is\nheld shall be eligible to vote. Such election shall be by secret ballot\nheld in accordance with the provisions of this section and such rules\nand regulations as may be adopted by the retirement board. A retired\nteacher member elected to the retirement board pursuant to the\nprovisions of this section shall serve for a term of three years\ncommencing on the first day of January next following said election.\n 2. Nominations. Nominations of candidates for the position of retired\nteacher member of the retirement board shall be by petition on forms\nprovided pursuant to this subdivision. The retirement board shall\nprepare printed forms for nominating petitions for candidates for the\noffice of retired teacher member of the retirement board. Such forms\nshall be available to retired members of the retirement system not later\nthan July first of a year in which an election is to be held. Each\ncandidate's petition shall be signed by not less than one hundred\nretired members of the retirement system and shall be filed with the\nretirement board not later than August fifteenth in such year. Each such\npetition shall contain the position and term of office, together with\nthe name and address of the candidate, and shall also contain the name\nand address of the retired member of the retirement system who shall be\nthe alternate candidate in the event of a vacancy caused by the death,\ndisability, disqualification or withdrawal of the candidate occurring\nprior to the election. Each petition shall be accompanied by a notarized\nwritten acceptance of the nomination by the candidate named in the\npetition and by a notarized written statement of the retired member\nnamed as alternate candidate that, in the event of the death,\ndisability, disqualification or withdrawal of the candidate prior to the\nelection or in the event of the death, disability, disqualification or\nresignation of the candidate from the position of retired teacher member\nof the retirement board following election, he or she will accept the\nnomination or serve on the retirement board in such a contingency. The\nretirement board shall implement one mailing for each qualified\ncandidate that so requests and makes payment therefor prior to the time\nof mailing by bank or certified check. The board shall establish\nprocedures to merge mailings for more than one qualified candidate in\norder to reduce postage costs and for administrative convenience if each\naffected candidate approves. Nothing in this subdivision or in this\nsection shall be construed to impair existing law preserving the\nconfidentiality of the home addresses of retirees of the retirement\nsystem.\n 3. Election procedures. Such election shall be in the form of a mail\nreferendum with appropriate provisions, such as the use of double\nenvelopes, made to insure that the identity of the individual retired\nmembers will not be disclosed as their marked ballots are submitted and\ncounted. The retirement board shall prepare and mail a ballot and\ninstructions for voting to each eligible retired member by first class\nmail not earlier than October first and not later than October\nfifteenth. The names of candidates and alternate candidates listed on\nthe ballot shall be in the order in which the petitions are filed with\nthe retirement board. The ballots shall be such that they may be machine\ncounted. Such ballots shall be returned to the address within the state\nof New York designated by the retirement board and shall be postmarked\nnot later than October thirty-first. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the\nretirement board may by resolution establish an alternative procedure\nfor the conduct of an election pursuant to this section by electronic,\ntelephonic or other means which provide comparable security and\nconvenience for voting by retired teacher members.\n 4. Board of elections. At the time of filing a petition or not later\nthan September fifteenth, each candidate shall appoint two active or\nretired members of the retirement system to a board of elections. Such\nboard of elections shall consist of such appointees of the candidates\nand one member of the retirement system named by the president of the\nretirement board, who shall act as its chairman. Members of the board of\nelections shall not themselves be candidates or alternate candidates.\nSuch board of elections shall supervise the election. Such board of\nelections shall meet at the location within the state designated by the\nretirement board at one o'clock in the afternoon on the second Monday in\nNovember to certify the election of the candidate receiving the largest\nnumber of valid votes cast. The retired member so elected shall be\nnotified of such election by the chairman of the board of elections\nwithin five days of such certification. The ballots shall be kept in\nthe custody of the retirement board for at least ninety days after such\ncertification. Members of the board of elections shall be reimbursed by\nthe retirement board for reasonable expenses actually incurred, in\naccordance with rules and regulations adopted by the retirement board.\n 5. Special election. In the event that no candidate can be certified\nas having won the election as the result of a tie vote, then the board\nof elections shall order a special election with the ballot containing\nonly the names of such candidates with a tie vote. Such special election\nshall be conducted in the same general manner as the regular election.\nBallots shall be mailed during the month of November as soon as\nreasonably practical after the tie vote has been determined and shall be\nreturned to a location within the state designated by the retirement\nboard, postmarked no later than the fourteenth day of December. The\nboard of elections shall meet at the location within the state\ndesignated by the retirement board on a mutually selected date prior to\nJanuary first to certify the election of the candidate receiving the\nlargest number of valid votes cast.\n 6. Suspension of election. In the event that only one candidate is\nnominated, then no election shall be held and such candidate shall be\ndeemed to be elected effective at the same time as if an election had\nbeen held.\n 7. Vacancies. A vacancy occurring during the term of a retired teacher\nmember of the retirement board shall be filled by the retired member who\nwas the alternate candidate at the time such retired teacher member was\nlast elected to the board. In the event that such alternate candidate\nhas died, become disqualified, or is unwilling or unable to serve or in\nthe event that the alternate candidate dies, is disqualified, becomes\ndisabled, or resigns after entering upon the position of retired teacher\nmember of the retirement board, then the vacancy shall be filled by the\nconcurrent appointment of a successor from among the retired members of\nthe system by the members of the retirement board who were elected from\namong the active members of the retirement system. Such alternate\ncandidate or such appointee, as applicable, shall serve out the\nunexpired term of the retired teacher member.\n 8. Certain expenses of alternate candidate. The retired member who was\nthe alternate candidate at the time a retired teacher member was last\nelected to the position of the retired teacher member of the retirement\nboard shall be entitled to be reimbursed from the expense fund for\nactual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with attendance at\nthe annual meeting and stated meetings of the retirement board pursuant\nto subdivision one of section five hundred six of this article.\n