Senate Bill S979

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

                                   979

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 22, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  KRUGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections

AN ACT to amend the election  law,  in  relation  to  the  deadline  for
  obtaining  application  forms  for absentee ballots by persons who are
  ill or physically disabled; who shall supply  application  forms;  and
  limit  on  number of absentee ballots to be received on the day of the
  election

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

  Section  1.  Paragraphs  (a),  (c) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section
8-400 of the election law, paragraph (a) as amended by  chapter  263  of
the laws of 1991, paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 321 of the laws of
1988  and paragraph (d) as added by chapter 216 of the laws of 1988, are
amended to read as follows:
  (a) Application forms shall be furnished by and may be  obtained  from
any  board  of  elections at any time until the day before such election
OR, WITH RESPECT TO APPLICATIONS FOR PERSONS WHO ARE ILL  OR  PHYSICALLY
DISABLED,  UNTIL THE DAY OF SUCH ELECTION.  Application forms shall also
be supplied by the board of inspectors  [of  the  election  district  in
which  applicant  is  a qualified voter] on all of the days provided for
local registration. [In addition, application forms  shall  be  supplied
upon  the  request  of  the  person  authorized to vote pursuant to this
section, any such person's spouse, parent or child,  a  person  residing
with the applicant as a member of his household, or the applicant's duly
authorized  agent.]  Application forms sent outside of the United States
to a country other than Canada or Mexico, shall  be  sent  airmail.  Any
reference  to  "board  of elections" in the remaining provisions of this
section, except with respect to the furnishing and obtaining of applica-
tions for absentee ballots, means only the board  of  elections  of  the
county or city in which the applicant is a qualified voter.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06665-01-9

              

S. 979                              2

  (c)  All  applications  must  be  mailed to the board of elections not
later than the seventh day before the election for  which  a  ballot  is
first requested or delivered to such board not later than the day before
such election EXCEPT THAT APPLICATIONS FROM PERSONS WHO ARE ILL OR PHYS-
ICALLY  DISABLED  MAY  BE  DELIVERED TO SUCH BOARD UNTIL THE DAY OF SUCH
ELECTION.
  (d) The board of elections shall mail OR DELIVER an absentee ballot to
every  qualified  voter  otherwise  eligible  for  such  a  ballot,  who
requests  such  an  absentee  ballot  from such board of elections in  a
letter, which is signed by the  voter  and  received  by  the  board  of
elections  BY  MAIL  not earlier than the thirtieth day [nor] BEFORE THE
ELECTION FOR WHICH THE BALLOT IS FIRST REQUESTED AND WHICH IS MAILED NOT
later than the seventh day before [the] SUCH  election  [for  which  the
ballot  is  first  requested and which states], OR WHICH IS DELIVERED TO
SUCH BOARD NOT EARLIER THAN THE THIRTIETH DAY NOR  LATER  THAN  THE  DAY
BEFORE  SUCH  ELECTION EXCEPT THAT SUCH LETTERS FROM PERSONS WHO ARE ILL
OR PHYSICALLY DISABLED MAY BE DELIVERED TO SUCH BOARD UNTIL THE  DAY  OF
SUCH  ELECTION.  SUCH LETTERS MUST SET FORTH the address where the voter
is registered and the address to which the ballot is to be mailed OR, IF
SUCH BALLOT MAY BE DELIVERED, THE NAME OF THE PERSON TO WHOM IT IS TO BE
DELIVERED.  The board of elections shall enclose with such ballot a form
of application for absentee ballot.
  S 2. Section 8-406 of the election law, as amended by chapter  296  of
the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows:
  S 8-406.  Absentee ballots, delivery of.  If the board shall find that
the  applicant  is a qualified voter of the election district containing
his OR HER residence as stated in his OR HER statement and that  his  OR
HER  statement  is sufficient, it shall, as soon as practicable after it
shall have determined his OR HER right thereto, mail to him OR HER at an
address designated by him OR HER, or deliver to him OR HER,  or  to  any
person  designated  for  such  purpose  in writing by him OR HER, at the
office of the board, such an absentee voter's ballot or set  of  ballots
and  an  envelope  therefor. NO PERSON MAY BE DESIGNATED TO RECEIVE MORE
THAN ONE ABSENTEE BALLOT ON THE DAY  OF  THE  ELECTION  OTHER  THAN  THE
BALLOTS  OF  HIS  OR  HER SPOUSE, CHILD, PARENT, GRANDPARENT, BROTHER OR
SISTER AND THE SPOUSE OF ANY SUCH PERSON.  If the ballot or ballots  are
to  be  sent outside of the United States to a country other than Canada
or Mexico, such ballot or ballots shall be sent by air mail.    However,
if  an applicant who is eligible for an absentee ballot is a resident of
a facility operated or licensed by, or under the  jurisdiction  of,  the
department  of  mental hygiene, or a resident of a facility defined as a
nursing home or residential health care facility  pursuant  to  subdivi-
sions  two  and  three  of section two thousand eight hundred one of the
public health law, or a resident of a hospital or other  facility  oper-
ated by the Veteran's Administration of the United States, such absentee
ballot need not be so mailed or delivered to any such applicant but, may
be  delivered  to the voter in the manner prescribed by section 8-407 of
this chapter if such facility is located in the county or city in  which
such voter is eligible to vote.
  S  3.    This  act  shall  take  effect  on the first of December next
succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.