§ 7-119 — Ballots; early mail voters

§ 7-119. Ballots; early mail voters. 1. (a) Ballots for early mail\nvoters shall be, as nearly as practicable, in the same form as those to\nbe voted in the district on election day, except that such ballots need\nnot have a stub, and shall have the words "Early Mail Ballot", endorsed\nthereon.\n (b) All provisions of this chapter not inconsistent with this\nsubdivision shall be applicable to early mail ballots prepared for\ncounting by a ballot scanner or by hand. The instructions for marking an\nearly mail ballot shall be provided and shall be substantially as\nfollows, so that they accurately reflect the ballot layout:\nINSTRUCTIONS\nMark the (insert "oval" or "square") to the left of the name of your\nchoice. (Provide illustration of correctly-marked voting position here.)\nTo vote for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot, (insert\n"mark the oval (or square) to the left of 'write-in' and print the name\nclearly" or "print the name clearly in the box labeled 'write-in'"),\nstaying within the box. Any mark or writing outside the spaces provided\nfor voting may void the entire ballot. You have a right to a replacement\nballot. If you make a mistake or want to change your vote, call the\nboard of elections at (insert phone number here) for instructions on how\nto obtain a new ballot. The number of choices is listed for each\ncontest. Do not mark the ballot for more candidates than allowed. If you\ndo, your vote in that contest will not count.\n (c) When a question or proposal is included on the ballot,\ninstructions substantially similar to those provided in subdivision\nfifteen of section 7-104 of this article shall be included.\n 2. The determination of the appropriate county board of elections as\nto the candidates duly designated or nominated for public office or\nparty position whose name shall appear on the early mail ballot and as\nto ballot proposals to be voted on shall be made no later than the day\nafter the state board of elections issues its certification of those\ncandidates to be voted for at the general, special or primary election.\nThe determinations of the state board of elections and the respective\ncounty boards of elections shall be final and conclusive with respect to\nsuch offices for which petitions or certificates are required to be\nfiled with such boards, as the case may be but nothing contained in this\nsection shall prevent a board of elections, or a court of competent\njurisdiction from determining at a later date that any such\ncertification, designation or nomination is invalid and, in the event of\nsuch later determination, no vote cast for any such nominee by any voter\nshall be counted at the election.\n 3. There shall be three envelopes for each early mail ballot issued by\nmail: the inner affirmation envelope into which a voter places their\nvoted ballot, the outer envelope which shall be addressed to the early\nmail voter, and the mailing envelope which is addressed to the county\nboard of elections. The board of elections shall furnish with each early\nmail ballot an inner affirmation envelope. On one side of the envelope\nshall be printed:\n OFFICIAL EARLY MAIL BALLOT\n for\n GENERAL (OR PRIMARY OR SPECIAL) ELECTION,\n ..........., 20.......\nName of voter ..................\nResidence (street and number if any) ..............\nCity/or town of (village, if any) .................\nCounty of ...............................\nAssembly District ......................\nLegislative District (as applicable) ..........\nWard (as applicable) .....................\nElection District ....................\nParty Enrollment (in case of primary election) ....................\n 4. The date of the election, name of the county, and name of a city,\nif there be a separate ballot for city voters, shall be printed, and the\nname of the voter, residence, number of the assembly district, if any,\nname of town, number of ward, if any, election district and party\nenrollment, if required, shall be either printed or written or stamped\nin by the board.\n 5. There shall also be a place for two board of elections staff\nmembers or inspectors of opposite political parties to indicate, by\nplacing their initials thereon, that they have checked and marked the\nvoter's poll record and a box labeled "BOE use only" for notations\nrequired when the board of elections reviews affirmation ballot\nenvelopes pursuant to section 9-209 of this chapter.\n 6. On the reverse side of such inner affirmation envelope shall be\nprinted the following statement:\n AFFIRMATION\n I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, that I am duly\nregistered in the election district shown on the reverse side of this\nenvelope and I am qualified to vote in such district; that I have not\nqualified nor do I intend to vote elsewhere, that I have not committed\nany act nor am I under any impediment which denies me the right to vote.\n I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of\nmy knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material\nfalse statement in the foregoing statement of early mail voter, I shall\nbe guilty of a misdemeanor.\nDate ............... 20 ................\n ..........................\n Signature or mark of voter\n ..........................\n Signature of Witness\n (required only if voter\n does not sign their own\n name)\n ..........................\n Address of Witness\n 7. The inner affirmation envelope shall be gummed, ready for sealing,\nand shall have printed thereon, on the side opposite the statement,\ninstructions as to the duties of the voter after the marking of the\nballot, which instructions shall include a specific direction stating\nwhen such ballot must be postmarked and when such ballot must reach the\noffice of the board of elections in order to be canvassed.\n 8. Each inner affirmation ballot envelope shall be enclosed in an\nouter envelope addressed to the appropriate board of elections and\nbearing on it a specific direction that if an original application for\nan early mail ballot is received with the ballot, such application must\nbe completed by the voter and returned in the outer envelope together\nwith the sealed inner affirmation envelope containing the early mail\nballot within the time limits for receipt of the early mail ballot\nitself. Such inner affirmation envelope and outer envelope shall be\nenclosed in the third envelope addressed to the early mail voter. The\nouter and third envelopes shall have printed on the face thereof the\nwords "Election Material--Please Expedite".\n