§ 15-120 — Absentee voting at village elections

New York § 15-120

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ELN: Election
• Art. 15: Village Elections

Text

§ 15-120. Absentee voting at village elections. 1. A qualified voter\nof a village may vote as an absentee voter under this section if during\nall the hours of voting on the day of a general or special village\nelection he or she will be:\n (a) absent from the county of his or her residence; or\n (b) unable to appear at the polling place because of illness or\nphysical disability, or duties related to the primary care of one or\nmore individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or because he or\nshe will be or is a patient in a hospital; or\n (c) an incarcerated individual or patient of a veteran's\nadministration hospital; or\n (d) absent from his or her voting residence because he or she is\ndetained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial, or\nconfined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than\na felony, provided that he or she is qualified to vote in the election\ndistrict of his or her residence.\n 2. Each person entitled to vote as an absentee voter pursuant to this\nsection and desirous of obtaining an absentee ballot shall make written\napplication therefor to the village clerk. Application forms for use\npursuant to this section shall be in a form prescribed by the state\nboard of elections. The use of any application which is on a form\nprescribed by the state board of elections shall be acceptable.\n 3. An application for an absentee ballot must be signed by the\napplicant. Such application may require that the applicant submit a\ncertificate in lieu of any affidavit which shall state that the\ninformation contained in the application is true. Such certificate shall\nbe accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit and shall\nhave the following language printed in bold face type above the\nsignature line:\n "I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CERTIFICATE WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR\n ALL PURPOSES AS THE EQUIVALENT OF AN AFFIDAVIT AND, IF\n IT CONTAINS A MATERIAL FALSE STATEMENT, SHALL SUBJECT ME\n TO THE SAME PENALTIES AS IF I HAD BEEN DULY SWORN."\n 4. The application for an absentee ballot when filed must contain in\neach instance the following information:\n (a) Applicant's full name, date of birth, and residence address,\nincluding the street and number, if any, rural delivery route, if any,\nmailing address if different from the residence address and his or her\nvillage and an address to which the ballot shall be mailed.\n (b) A statement that the applicant is a qualified and registered\nvoter.\n (c) A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election the\napplicant expects in good faith to be in one of the following\ncategories:\n (i) absent from the county of his or her residence; provided, however,\nif the applicant expects to be absent from such county for a duration\ncovering more than one election and seeks an absentee ballot for each\nelection, he or she shall state the dates when he or she expects to\nbegin and end such absence; or\n (ii) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness or\nphysical disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more\nindividuals who are ill or physically disabled; or\n (iii) an incarcerated individual or patient of a veteran's\nadministration hospital; or\n (iv) detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting\ntrial or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense\nother than a felony and stating the place where he or she is so detained\nor confined.\n (d) Such application shall permit the applicant to apply for an\nabsentee ballot for either a primary election or the general election in\nany year and for those persons who will be continuously absent from\ntheir county of residence during the period between the fall primary\nelection and the general election in any year to apply for ballots for\nboth such elections in such year. A voter who applies for an absentee\nballot shall be sent an absentee ballot for any special election or\nwinter primary that occurs during the period of absence specified in the\napplication.\n 5. An application must be received by the village clerk no earlier\nthan four months before the election for which an absentee ballot is\nsought. If the application requests that the absentee ballot be mailed,\nsuch application must be received not later than seven days before the\nelection. If the applicant or his or her agent delivers the application\nto the village clerk in person, such application must be received not\nlater than the day before the election. The village clerk shall examine\neach application and shall determine from the information contained\ntherein whether the applicant is qualified under this section to receive\nan absentee ballot. The clerk in making such decision shall not\ndetermine whether the applicant is a qualified elector, said\ndetermination being reserved to the inspectors of election as is\nhereinafter provided in subdivision nine of this section.\n 6. No later than six days before the election for which an application\nhas been received and for which the village clerk has determined the\napplicant to be qualified to vote by absentee ballot the village clerk\nshall mail, by regular mail, an absentee ballot to each qualified\napplicant who has applied before such day and who has requested that\nsuch absentee ballot be mailed to him or her at the address set forth in\nhis or her application. If the applicant or his or her agent delivers\nthe application to the village clerk in person after the seventh day\nbefore the village election and not later than the day before the\nelection, the village clerk shall forthwith deliver such absentee\nballots for those applicants whom he or she determines are qualified to\nmake such applications and to receive such ballots to such applicants or\nthe agents named in the applications when such applicants or agents\nappear in the village clerk's office.\n 7. The absentee ballot shall be caused to be prepared and printed by\nthe village clerk as provided by law for paper ballots or machine\nballots, whichever are to be used in said election and appropriate\nmodifications for the purposes of this section. He or she shall also\ncause to be prepared and printed return envelopes addressed to him or\nher, conforming so far as may be practicable to the provisions of this\nchapter stating thereon that in order for the ballot contained therein\nto be counted it must be received by the village clerk not later than\nthe close of the polls on election day. On the reverse side of each\nreturn envelope there shall be written instructions for the voter to\ninsert at designated places his or her signature, his or her name\nprinted, his or her residence address within the village and his or her\nvillage election district if there be more than one district within the\nvillage.\n 8. The method of marking, preparing and mailing such ballot for voting\nshall conform, wherever practicable, to the methods used for absentee\nballots for a general election, except that the envelope in which it is\ncontained shall be returned to the village clerk. On the day of the\nelection, the village clerk shall deliver all such ballots, which have\nbeen returned to him or her, in the sealed envelopes to the board of\ninspectors of election of the proper election district. No such ballot\nshall be deemed to have been voted unless or until it shall have been\ndelivered to the board of inspectors of election of the election\ndistrict in which the elector casting the ballot resides and shall have\nbeen deposited by the chairman of such board in the box provided for\nreceiving such ballot.\n 9. When such ballots shall have been delivered to the board of\ninspectors of election of the proper election district and shall have\nbeen duly determined by such board to have been lawfully cast by a\nqualified elector of such district, the chairman of such board shall,\nafter the close of the polls, open the envelopes containing such ballots\nand, without unfolding such ballots or permitting the face thereof to be\nexposed to the view of anyone, shall deposit each such ballot in a box\nspecifically furnished for such purpose by the village clerk. If the\nboard of inspectors shall determine that any such ballot has been cast\nby an elector who would not be qualified under the provisions of this\nsection, then such ballot shall not be counted.\n 10. After all the ballots shall have been deposited, the box shall be\nopened and such ballots canvassed in the same manner as other ballots\ncast at such election and shall be counted and included in the total of\nall ballots cast at such election.\n