§ 4-117 — Check of registrants and information notice by mail

§ 4-117. Check of registrants and information notice by mail. 1. The\nboard of elections, between the third Tuesday in April and the second\nFriday in May in each year, shall send by mail on which is endorsed such\nlanguage designated by the state board of elections to ensure postal\nauthorities do not forward such mail but return it to the board of\nelections with forwarding information, when it cannot be delivered as\naddressed and which contains a request that any such mail received for\npersons not residing at the address be dropped back in the mail, a\ncommunication, in a form approved by the state board of elections, to\nevery registered voter who has been registered without a change of\naddress since the beginning of such year, except that the board of\nelections shall not be required to send such communications to voters in\ninactive status. The communication shall notify the voter in bold print\ncontained in such notice of the days and hours of the ensuing primary\nand general elections, the place where he or she appears by his or her\nregistration records to be entitled to vote, and also in other than bold\ntype of the fact that voters who have moved or will have moved from the\naddress where they were last registered must either notify the board of\nelections of his or her new address or vote by paper ballot at the\npolling place for his or her new address even if such voter has not\nre-registered, or otherwise notified the board of elections of the\nchange of address. If the primary will not be held on the first Tuesday\nafter the second Monday in September, the communication shall contain a\nconspicuous notice in all capital letters and bold font notifying the\nvoter of the primary date. If the location of the polling place for the\nvoter's election district has been moved, the communication shall\ncontain the following legend in bold type: "YOUR POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN\nCHANGED. YOU NOW VOTE AT..........". The communication shall indicate\nthat any registered voter may vote early by mail by applying for an\nearly mail ballot, and provide information on how to apply for an early\nmail ballot. The communication shall also indicate whether the polling\nplace is accessible to physically disabled voters, that a voter who will\nbe out of the city or county on the day of the primary or general\nelection or a voter who is ill or physically disabled may obtain an\nabsentee ballot, that a physically disabled voter whose polling place is\nnot accessible may request that his registration record be moved to an\nelection district which has a polling place which is accessible, the\nphone number to call for applications to move a registration record or\nfor early mail or absentee ballot applications, the phone number to call\nfor the location of registration and polling places, the phone number to\ncall to indicate that the voter is willing to serve on election day as\nan election inspector, poll clerk, interpreter or in other capacities,\nthe phone number to call to obtain an application for registration by\nmail, and such other information concerning the elections or\nregistration as the board may include. In lieu of sending such\ncommunication to every registered voter, the board of elections may send\na single communication to a household containing more than one\nregistered voter, provided that the names of all such voters appear as\npart of the address on such communication.\n 1-a. The notice required by subdivision one of this section shall\ninclude the dates, hours and locations of early voting for the general\nand primary election. The board of elections may alternatively satisfy\nthe notice requirement of this subdivision by providing in the notice\ninstructions to obtain the required early voting information by means of\na website and phone number of the board of elections.\n 2. Whenever a ballot proposal is to be submitted to the people for\napproval at any election, the board of elections may send to every\nregistered voter, by the same mail containing the communication required\nby this section, a copy of the abstract of such ballot proposal.\n 3. Each year, in the month of December, the commissioners of every\nlocal board of elections shall file with the state board of elections,\non a form provided therefor by such state board, a statement setting\nforth the approximate number of communications mailed pursuant to the\nrequirements of this section and the approximate number of such\ncommunications returned by the post office. Such statement shall be\nsworn or subscribed to and bear a form notice that false statements made\ntherein are punishable as a class A misdemeanor pursuant to section\n210.45 of the penal law. The failure of a local board of elections to\nfile such a certificate in any year, within the time prescribed, shall\ncreate a presumption that such board of elections did not mail such\ncommunications in such year. Not later than January thirty-first of each\nyear, the state board of elections shall publish a chart listing, by\ncounty, the numbers contained in the certificates required to be filed\nby each local board of elections in December of the previous year\npursuant to the provisions of this subdivision.\n