Senate Bill S3516A

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 3516--A

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 23, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens. STEWART-COUSINS, ADAMS, HASSELL-THOMPSON, HUNTLEY,
  C. JOHNSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed  to  be
  committed  to  the Committee on Local Government -- recommitted to the
  Committee on Local Government in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8
  -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
  and recommitted to said committee

AN  ACT  to amend the town law, in relation to absentee ballots for fire
  district elections

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 175-b of the town law, as
amended by chapter 401 of the laws of  1996,  are  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  1. The board of fire commissioners of any fire district in which offi-
cers  are  elected[,  may,  by  resolution,]  SHALL provide for absentee
ballots for fire district elections, in accordance with  the  provisions
of  this section.   [Such resolution shall take effect at the first such
election held more than sixty days after its adoption and shall continue
in effect for all such elections until a subsequent resolution providing
otherwise shall, in like manner, have taken effect.]
  2. a. An applicant for such an absentee ballot shall submit an  appli-
cation  setting  forth (1) his or her FULL name, DATE OF BIRTH and resi-
dence address, including the street and number,  if  any,  or  town  and
rural delivery route, if any MAILING ADDRESS IF DIFFERENT FROM THE RESI-
DENCE  ADDRESS  AND  HIS OR HER TOWN OR CITY AND AN ADDRESS TO WHICH THE
BALLOT SHALL BE MAILED; (2) that he or she is or will be, on the day  of
the  election,  a  qualified  voter  of  the district in which he or she
resides in that he or she is or will be, on  such  date,  over  eighteen
years  of  age,  a  citizen  of  the  United States and has or will have
resided in the district for thirty days next preceding  such  date;  (3)
that  he  or  she  is registered in the town; (4) that he or she will be

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01660-05-0
              

S. 3516--A                          2

unable to appear to vote in person on the day of the election for  which
the  absentee  ballot  is  requested because he or she is, or will be on
such day (a) a patient in a hospital, or unable to appear personally  at
the  polling place on such day because of illness or physical disability
or (b) [because his or her duties, occupation or business  will  require
him  or  her to be outside of the county of his or her residence on such
day, (c) because he or she will be on vacation outside the county of his
or her residence on such day; or, (d)] absent from  his  or  her  voting
residence  because  he  or  she is detained in jail awaiting action by a
grand jury or awaiting trial or is confined  in  JAIL  OR  prison  after
conviction for an offense other than a felony.  Such application must be
received  by  the  district  secretary  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 his or her agent.
  b.  [(1)  Where such duties, occupation or  business  are  of  such  a
nature  as  ordinarily  to  require such absence, a brief description of
such duties, occupation or business shall be set forth in  such  affida-
vit.    (2)  Where such duties, occupation or business are not of such a
nature as ordinarily to require such  absence,  such  application  shall
contain  a  statement  of  the special circumstances on account of which
such absence is required.
  c.  Where the applicant expects in good faith to be absent on the  day
of  the election because he or she will be on vacation elsewhere on such
day, such application shall also contain the dates upon which he or  she
expects  to begin and end such vacation, the place or places where he or
she expects to be on such vacation, the name and address of his  or  her
employer, if any, and if self-employed, a statement to that effect.
  d.  Where  the absence is because of detention or confinement to jail,
such affidavit shall state whether the voter is detained awaiting action
of the grand jury or is confined after conviction for an  offense  other
than a felony.
  e.    Where  a  person  is  or would be, if he or she were a qualified
voter, entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot  under
the provisions of this section, his or her spouse, parent or child, if a
qualified  voter  and a resident of the same district, shall be entitled
to vote as an absentee voter  upon  personally  making  and  signing  an
application in accordance with the preceding provisions of this subdivi-
sion  and  showing that he or she expects to be absent from the district
on the day of the district election by reason of accompanying  or  being
with the spouse, child or parent who is or would be, if he or she were a
qualified  voter, so entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee
ballot, and, in the event no application is made by such  spouse,  child
or parent, such further information as the fire district shall require.
  f.]  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 absentee
ballots, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Date.....................Signature of Voter.............
  [g.] C. An applicant whose ability to appear personally at the polling
place of the district of which  he  or  she  is  a  qualified  voter  is
substantially  impaired by reason of permanent illness or physical disa-
bility and whose registration record has been marked "permanently  disa-
bled"  by  the  board  of  elections  pursuant  to the provisions of the

S. 3516--A                          3

election law shall be entitled to receive an absentee ballot pursuant to
the provisions of this section without making separate  application  for
such absentee ballot, and the secretary of the fire district, upon being
advised  by  the  board  of  elections on or with the list of registered
voters that the registration record of a voter  is  marked  "permanently
disabled",  shall  send  an  absentee ballot to such voter at his or her
last known address by first class mail with  a  request  to  the  postal
authorities  not  to forward same but to return same in five days in the
event that it cannot be  delivered  to  the  addressee.    The  election
inspectors  of  the fire district shall make an appropriate entry on the
registration record indicating the fact that an absentee ballot has been
sent and the date of mailing.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.