S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
2585--C
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 19, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GALEF, ENGLEBRIGHT, MAGEE, PAULIN, KOLB --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BOYLAND, CALHOUN, COOK, CROUCH, DUPREY,
FINCH, GIGLIO, JORDAN, LUPARDO, McKEVITT, J. MILLER, ORTIZ, REILLY,
ROBINSON, SAYWARD, SWEENEY, THIELE -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Local Governments -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee --
again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the
Committee on Local Governments in accordance with Assembly Rule 3,
sec. 2 -- 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,] 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 name and residence address, includ-
ing the street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if
any; (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
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00364-04-2
A. 2585--C 2
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 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 of 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 prison after conviction for an offense other than a felo-
ny. 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 deliv-
ered 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.] A QUALIFIED VOTER MAY VOTE AS AN ABSENTEE VOTER UNDER THIS SECTION
IF DURING ALL THE HOURS OF VOTING ON THE DAY OF A FIRE DISTRICT ELECTION
HE OR SHE WILL BE:
(1) ABSENT FROM THE COUNTY OF HIS OR HER RESIDENCE; OR
(2) UNABLE TO APPEAR AT THE POLLING PLACE BECAUSE OF ILLNESS OR PHYS-
ICAL DISABILITY, OR DUTIES RELATED TO THE PRIMARY CARE OF ONE OR MORE
INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ILL OR PHYSICALLY DISABLED, OR BECAUSE HE OR SHE
WILL BE OR IS A PATIENT IN A HOSPITAL; OR
(3) AN INMATE OR PATIENT OF A VETERAN'S ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL; OR
A. 2585--C 3
(4) 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
CONFINED IN JAIL OR PRISON AFTER A CONVICTION FOR AN OFFENSE OTHER THAN
A FELONY, PROVIDED THAT HE OR SHE IS QUALIFIED TO VOTE IN THE ELECTION
DISTRICT OF HIS OR HER RESIDENCE.
B. EACH PERSON ENTITLED TO VOTE AS AN ABSENTEE VOTER PURSUANT TO THIS
SECTION AND DESIROUS OF OBTAINING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT SHALL MAKE WRITTEN
APPLICATION THEREFOR TO THE DISTRICT SECRETARY. APPLICATION FORMS FOR
USE PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL BE IN A FORM PRESCRIBED BY THE STATE
BOARD OF ELECTIONS. THE USE OF ANY APPLICATION WHICH IS ON A FORM
PRESCRIBED BY THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL BE ACCEPTABLE. 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. THE APPLICATION FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT WHEN FILED MUST CONTAIN
IN EACH INSTANCE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
(1) APPLICANT'S FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, AND RESIDENCE ADDRESS,
INCLUDING THE STREET AND NUMBER, IF ANY, RURAL DELIVERY ROUTE, IF ANY,
MAILING ADDRESS IF DIFFERENT FROM THE RESIDENCE ADDRESS AND AN ADDRESS
TO WHICH THE BALLOT SHALL BE MAILED.
(2) A STATEMENT THAT THE APPLICANT IS A QUALIFIED AND REGISTERED
VOTER.
(3) A STATEMENT, AS APPROPRIATE, THAT ON THE DAY OF SUCH ELECTION THE
APPLICANT EXPECTS IN GOOD FAITH TO BE IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CATEGO-
RIES:
(A) ABSENT FROM THE COUNTY OF HIS OR HER RESIDENCE; PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
IF THE APPLICANT EXPECTS TO BE ABSENT FROM SUCH COUNTY FOR A DURATION
COVERING MORE THAN ONE ELECTION AND SEEKS AN ABSENTEE BALLOT FOR EACH
ELECTION, HE OR SHE SHALL STATE THE DATES WHEN HE OR SHE EXPECTS TO
BEGIN AND END SUCH ABSENCE; OR
(B) UNABLE TO APPEAR AT A POLLING PLACE BECAUSE OF ILLNESS OR PHYSICAL
DISABILITY OR DUTIES RELATED TO THE PRIMARY CARE OF ONE OR MORE INDIVID-
UALS WHO ARE ILL OR PHYSICALLY DISABLED; OR
(C) AN INMATE OR PATIENT OF A VETERAN'S ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL; OR
(D) DETAINED IN JAIL AWAITING ACTION BY A GRAND JURY OR AWAITING TRIAL
OR CONFINED IN JAIL OR PRISON AFTER A CONVICTION FOR AN OFFENSE OTHER
THAN A FELONY AND STATING THE PLACE WHERE HE OR SHE IS SO DETAINED OR
CONFINED.
(4) SUCH APPLICATION SHALL PERMIT THE APPLICANT TO APPLY FOR AN ABSEN-
TEE BALLOT FOR EITHER A PRIMARY ELECTION OR THE GENERAL ELECTION IN ANY
YEAR AND FOR THOSE PERSONS WHO WILL BE CONTINUOUSLY ABSENT FROM THEIR
COUNTY OF RESIDENCE DURING THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE FALL PRIMARY ELECTION
AND THE GENERAL ELECTION IN ANY YEAR TO APPLY FOR BALLOTS FOR BOTH SUCH
ELECTIONS IN SUCH YEAR. A VOTER WHO APPLIES FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT SHALL
BE SENT AN ABSENTEE BALLOT FOR ANY SPECIAL ELECTION OR WINTER PRIMARY
THAT OCCURS DURING THE PERIOD OF ABSENCE SPECIFIED IN THE APPLICATION.
D. 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
election law shall be entitled to receive an absentee ballot pursuant to
A. 2585--C 4
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.
E. AN APPLICATION MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE DISTRICT SECRETARY NO EARLI-
ER THAN THE THIRTIETH DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION FOR WHICH AN ABSENTEE
BALLOT IS SOUGHT. IF THE APPLICATION REQUESTS THAT THE ABSENTEE BALLOT
BE MAILED, SUCH APPLICATION MUST BE RECEIVED NOT LATER THAN SEVEN DAYS
BEFORE THE ELECTION. IF THE APPLICANT OR HIS OR HER AGENT DELIVERS THE
APPLICATION TO THE DISTRICT SECRETARY IN PERSON, SUCH APPLICATION MUST
BE RECEIVED NOT LATER THAN THE DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION. THE DISTRICT
SECRETARY SHALL EXAMINE EACH APPLICATION AND SHALL DETERMINE FROM THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN WHETHER THE APPLICANT IS QUALIFIED UNDER
THIS SECTION TO RECEIVE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT.
F. NO LATER THAN SIX DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION FOR WHICH AN APPLICATION
HAS BEEN RECEIVED AND FOR WHICH THE DISTRICT SECRETARY HAS DETERMINED
THE APPLICANT TO BE QUALIFIED TO VOTE BY ABSENTEE BALLOT THE DISTRICT
SECRETARY SHALL MAIL, BY REGULAR MAIL, AN ABSENTEE BALLOT TO EACH QUALI-
FIED APPLICANT WHO HAS APPLIED BEFORE SUCH DAY AND WHO HAS REQUESTED
THAT SUCH ABSENTEE BALLOT BE MAILED TO HIM OR HER AT THE ADDRESS SET
FORTH IN HIS OR HER APPLICATION. IF THE APPLICANT OR HIS OR HER AGENT
DELIVERS THE APPLICATION TO THE DISTRICT SECRETARY IN PERSON AFTER THE
SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION AND NOT LATER THAN THE DAY BEFORE THE
ELECTION, THE DISTRICT SECRETARY SHALL FORTHWITH DELIVER SUCH ABSENTEE
BALLOTS FOR THOSE APPLICANTS WHOM HE OR SHE DETERMINES ARE QUALIFIED TO
MAKE SUCH APPLICATIONS AND TO RECEIVE SUCH BALLOTS TO SUCH APPLICANTS OR
THE AGENTS NAMED IN THE APPLICATIONS WHEN SUCH APPLICANTS OR AGENTS
APPEAR IN THE DISTRICT SECRETARY'S OFFICE.
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.