S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3028
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
January 23, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the election law, in relation to
extending the right to vote in school district elections to qualified
persons who are sixteen years of age; and to repeal certain provisions
of the election law in relation thereto
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 and the closing paragraph of section 2012 of
the education law, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 115 of the laws
of 1973, and the closing paragraph as amended by chapter 919 of the laws
of 1974, are amended to read as follows:
2. [Eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age.
5. No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to vote at any such
meeting or election, by reason of sex, who has the other qualifications
required by this section; and notwithstanding the foregoing provisions
of this section, no Indian [eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age or over who,
having been born in the United States to a member of an Indian tribe, or
having been naturalized or otherwise acquired citizenship, shall have
resided on an Indian reservation in the state for a period of thirty
days next preceding the meeting or election at which [he] SUCH PERSON
offers to vote or the spouse of such Indian shall be deemed ineligible
to vote at any such meeting or election of the school district where the
majority, as determined by the commissioner, of the Indian children of
such reservation are being educated under a contract pursuant to subdi-
vision two of section forty-one hundred one of this chapter, except that
the parents or guardians of Indian children of such reservation who are
being educated in the schools of a district other than the district
which educates the majority of such children, shall be eligible to vote
only in the district where their children are being so educated.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06827-01-5
S. 3028 2
§ 2. Subdivision 7 of section 2502 of the education law, as amended by
chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
7. No person shall be eligible to the office of member of the board of
education who is not a qualified voter of the city school district and
who has not been a resident of such district for a period of at least
one year immediately preceding the date of [his or her] SUCH PERSON'S
election; provided, however, that no person shall hold at the same time
the office of member of the board of education and any city office other
than as a police officer and firefighter; provided, further, that where
territory is added to a city school district by order of the commission-
er pursuant to article thirty-one of this chapter, residence in the
territory so added to the city school district shall be and shall be
deemed to be residence in the city school district for the purposes of
this subdivision, and a person qualified to vote in school district
elections by virtue of [his or her] SUCH PERSON'S residence in the
territory so added to the city school district immediately prior to the
addition of such territory to the city school district shall be and
shall be deemed to be a qualified voter of the city school district
immediately upon the addition of such territory; PROVIDED FURTHER, THAT
NO PERSON LESS THAN EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE SHALL BE DEEMED ELIGIBLE.
§ 3. Subdivision 1 of section 2553 of the education law, as separately
amended by chapters 211 and 441 of the laws of 1980, is amended to read
as follows:
1. No person shall be eligible to the office of member of a board of
education who is not a citizen of the United States, who is not quali-
fied to register for or vote at an election in accordance with the
provisions of section 5-106 of the election law, and who, in the case of
the city school district of the city of Yonkers, has not been a resident
of the city school district for which [he] SUCH PERSON is chosen for a
period of at least three years immediately preceding the date of [his]
SUCH PERSON'S election or appointment and who, in the case of the city
school district of the city of Buffalo, in the case of a member to be
elected at large is not a qualified voter of such city school district
and who has not been a resident of such district for a period of at
least three years immediately preceding the date of [his] SUCH PERSON'S
election and in the case of a member elected from a city school subdis-
trict is not a qualified voter of such city school subdistrict and has
not been a resident of the city school district for three years and a
resident of the city school subdistrict which [he] SUCH PERSON repres-
ents or seeks to represent for a period of one year immediately preced-
ing the date of [his] SUCH PERSON'S election, PROVIDED THAT NO PERSON
LESS THAN EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE SHALL BE DEEMED ELIGIBLE FOR ELECTION AS
AN AT LARGE MEMBER OR FROM A CITY SCHOOL SUBDISTRICT, and who, in the
case of the city school district of the city of Rochester, is not a
qualified voter under section 5-102 of the election law of such city
school district; and who in the case of the city school district of the
city of Syracuse has not been a qualified voter under section 5-102 of
the election law of such city school district for at least ninety days
immediately preceding the date of [his] SUCH PERSON'S election or
appointment.
§ 4. Section 2553 of the education law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 12 to read as follows:
12. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER LAW TO THE CONTRARY, INDIVIDUALS AGED
SIXTEEN AND SEVENTEEN SHALL BE DEEMED QUALIFIED VOTERS FOR THE PURPOSES
OF THIS SECTION, PROVIDED THAT SUCH INDIVIDUALS ARE OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE
UNDER SECTION 5-102 OF THE ELECTION LAW.
S. 3028 3
§ 5. Subdivision 2 of section 2603 of the education law, as amended by
chapter 115 of the laws of 1973, is amended to read as follows:
2. [Eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age.
§ 6. Paragraph b of subdivision 5 of section 2018-a of the education
law, as amended by section 8 of part LL of section 56 of the laws of
2010, is amended to read as follows:
b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the following
statement:
STATEMENT OF ABSENTEE VOTER
I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, and will be at
least [eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age, on the date of the school
district election; that I will have been a resident of this state and of
the school district and school election district, if any, shown on the
reverse side of this envelope for thirty days next preceding the said
election and duly registered in the school district and school election
district, if any, shown on the reverse side of this envelope and that I
am or on such date will be, a qualified voter of said school district;
that I will be unable to appear personally on the day of said school
district election at the polling place of the said district in which I
am or will be a qualified voter because of the reason stated on my
application heretofore submitted; that I have not qualified, or do I
intend to vote, elsewhere than as set forth on the reverse side of this
envelope; that I have not received or offered, do not expect to receive,
have not paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, offered or prom-
ised to contribute to another to be paid or used, any money or other
valuable thing, as a compensation or reward for the giving or withhold-
ing of a vote at this school district election, and have not made any
promise to influence the giving or withholding of any such votes; that I
have not made or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet or
wager depending upon the result of this school district election; and
that I have not been convicted of bribery or any infamous crime, or, if
so convicted, that I have been pardoned or restored to all the rights of
a citizen, without restriction as to the right of suffrage, or received
a certificate of relief from disabilities or a certificate of good
conduct pursuant to article twenty-three of the correction law removing
my disability to register and vote.
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 absentee voter, I shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.
Date.....................Signature of Voter ..........................
§ 7. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section
2018-b of the education law, as amended by chapter 46 of the laws of
1992, are amended to read as follows:
(1) [his] THE APPLICANT'S name and residence address, including the
street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if any; (2)
that [he] THE APPLICANT is or will be, on the day of the school district
election, a qualified voter of the school district in which [he] SUCH
APPLICANT resides in, that [he] THE APPLICANT is or will be, on such
date, over [eighteen] SIXTEEN 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;
S. 3028 4
§ 8. Paragraph b of subdivision 6 of section 2018-b of the education
law, as amended by section 9 of part LL of chapter 56 of the laws of
2010, is amended to read as follows:
b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the following
statement:
STATEMENT OF ABSENTEE VOTER
I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, and will be at
least [eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age on the date of the school district
election; that I will have been a resident of this state and of the
school district and school election district, if any, shown on the
reverse side of this envelope for thirty days next preceding the said
election and that I am or on such date will be, a qualified voter of
said school district; that I will be unable to appear personally on the
day of said school district election at the polling place of the said
district in which I am or will be a qualified voter because of the
reason stated on my application heretofore submitted; that I have not
qualified, or do I intend to vote, elsewhere than as set forth on the
reverse side of this envelope; that I have not received or offered, do
not expect to receive, have not paid, offered or promised to pay,
contributed, offered or promised to contribute to another to be paid or
used, any money or other valuable thing, as a compensation or reward for
the giving or withholding of a vote at this school district election,
and have not made any promise to influence the giving or withholding of
any such votes; that I have not made or become directly or indirectly
interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result of this school
district election; and that I have not been convicted of bribery or any
infamous crime, or, if so convicted, that I have been pardoned or
restored to all the rights of a citizen, without restriction as to the
right of suffrage, or have received a certificate of relief from disa-
bilities or a certificate of good conduct pursuant to article twenty-
three of the correction law removing my disability to vote.
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 absentee voter, I shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.
Date....................Signature of Voter ...........................
§ 9. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph c of subdivision 2 of section 1951 of
the education law, as amended by chapter 919 of the laws of 1974, is
amended to read as follows:
(2) [Eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age.
§ 10. Paragraph s of subdivision 2 of section 1951 of the education
law, as added by chapter 722 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as
follows:
s. The board of cooperative educational services shall provide absen-
tee ballots to qualified voters. The commissioner shall adopt regu-
lations for the purposes of implementing the provisions of this para-
graph which shall include, but not be limited to, creating the procedure
for which such absentee ballots shall be submitted; providing that such
absentee ballots shall be, as nearly as practicable, in the same form as
those voted at the district election; requiring that any absentee ballot
applicant is or will be, on the day of the vote, a qualified voter of
the board of cooperative educational services and that [he or she] SUCH
VOTER will be on such date over [eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age, a citi-
zen of the United States and has or will have resided in said district
S. 3028 5
for thirty days next preceding such date; and providing instructions as
to the proper marking thereof.
§ 11. Subdivision 5 of section 2609 of the education law, as amended
by chapter 919 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as follows:
5. Any qualified voter of a city school district may challenge the
right of a person to vote at the time when [he] SUCH VOTER requests a
ballot. All persons named upon the applicable register as having been
challenged prior to the day of the election shall also be challenged
before they are given ballots to vote. The chairman of the board of
inspectors shall administer to each person so challenged the following
oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am a citizen of the United
States; that I am of the age of [eighteen] SIXTEEN years or more; that I
have been an inhabitant of the State for the past year, a resident of
the county for the past four months and for the thirty days past an
actual resident of this city school district and am therefore qualified
to vote at this election." If the person challenged so swears or
affirms, [he] SUCH VOTER shall be permitted to vote at such election;
but if [he] SUCH VOTER shall refuse to so swear or affirm, [he] SUCH
VOTER shall not be given a ballot or be permitted to vote.
§ 12. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election
law is REPEALED and two new paragraphs (g) and (g-1) are added to read
as follows:
(G) NOTICE THAT THE APPLICANT MUST BE:
(I) A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES;
(II) AT LEAST SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE AT THE TIME THE APPLICATION IS
SUBMITTED OR WILL BE SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE NO LATER THAN DECEMBER THIR-
TY-FIRST OF THE CALENDAR YEAR IN WHICH SUCH APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED;
AND
(III) A RESIDENT OF THE COUNTY OR CITY TO WHICH SUCH APPLICATION IS
MADE.
(G-1) NOTICE THAT SUCH APPLICATION TO REGISTER TO VOTE WILL BE EFFEC-
TIVE:
(I) FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTIONS OCCURRING ON OR AFTER THE APPLICANT
TURNS SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IN WHICH THE APPLICANT
RESIDES; AND
(II) FOR ALL OTHER FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL ELECTIONS OCCURRING ON OR
AFTER THE APPLICANT TURNS EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE IN THE APPLICABLE
ELECTION DISTRICT IN WHICH THE APPLICANT RESIDES.
§ 13. Paragraph p of subdivision 4 of section 5-500 of the election
law is REPEALED and a new paragraph p is added to read as follows:
P. A SPACE FOR PRE-REGISTERING APPLICANTS TO RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS:
(I) "ARE YOU AT LEAST 16 YEARS OF AGE OR WILL YOU BE 16 YEARS OF AGE
ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 31 OF THIS YEAR?"
(II) "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MUST BE 16 YEARS OF AGE ON OR BEFORE
ELECTION DAY TO VOTE IN SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTIONS OR MEETINGS, AND THAT
YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO CAST A BALLOT IN A SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTION UNTIL
YOU ARE 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT THE TIME OF SUCH ELECTION, AND THAT
UNTIL YOU ARE 16 YEARS OF AGE, YOUR APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION WILL BE
MARKED 'PENDING', AND THAT AFTER YOU TURN 16 AND UNTIL YOU ARE 18 YEARS
OF AGE, YOUR REGISTRATION WILL ENTITLE YOU TO VOTE ONLY IN SCHOOL
DISTRICT ELECTIONS IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WHERE YOU RESIDE?"
(III) "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS OF AGE ON OR BEFORE
ELECTION DAY TO VOTE IN ALL OTHER ELECTIONS, INCLUDING FEDERAL, STATE
AND LOCAL ELECTIONS OTHER THAN SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTIONS, AND THAT YOU
WILL BE UNABLE TO CAST A BALLOT IN ANY SUCH FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL
S. 3028 6
ELECTION UNTIL YOU ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE AT THE TIME OF SUCH ELECTION,
YOUR REGISTRATION STATUS WILL BE MARKED 'SCHOOL DISTRICT ONLY?'"
§ 14. Subdivision 1 of section 5-507 of the election law, as added by
chapter 2 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
1. Pre-registration. A person who is at least sixteen years of age and
who is otherwise qualified to register to vote may pre-register to vote,
and shall be automatically registered upon reaching the age of eligibil-
ity as provided by this chapter, PROVIDED THAT SUCH VOTER SHALL BE
CONSIDERED REGISTERED FOR THE PURPOSE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTIONS,
PURSUANT TO SECTIONS TWO THOUSAND TWELVE, TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED
FIFTY-THREE, AND TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED THREE OF THE EDUCATION LAW.
§ 15. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.