§ 2018-b. Absentee ballots for school district elections by poll
registration. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections two
thousand fourteen and two thousand eighteen-a of this article, the
trustees or the board of education of any common, union free, central or
central high school district which does not provide for the personal
registration of voters for school district meetings and elections but
which elects trustees or school board members by ballot, shall provide
for absentee ballots for the election of the trustees or members of the
board and school district public library trustees, the adoption of the
annual budget and school district public library budget and referenda.

1-a. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections two thousand fourteen
and two thousand eighteen-a of this article, in any county with a
population of one million or more, the trustees or the board of
education of any common, union free, central or central high school
district which does not provide for the personal registration of voters
for school district meetings and elections but which elects trustees or
school board members by ballot shall provide for absentee ballots for
the election of the trustees or members of the board and school district
public library trustees, the adoption of the annual budget and school
district public library budget and referenda.

2. a. An applicant for such an absentee ballot shall submit an
application setting forth (1) his name and residence address, including
the street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if any;
(2) that he is or will be, on the day of the school district election, a
qualified voter of the school district in which he resides in that he 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 will be unable to appear to
vote in person on the day of the school district election for which the
absentee ballot is requested because he 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 duties, occupation, business, or studies will require him to
be outside of the county or city of his residence on such day, (c)
because he will be on vacation outside the county or city of his
residence on such day; or, (d) absent from his voting residence because
he 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
felony. Such application must be received by the district clerk or
designee of the trustees or school board 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.

b. (1) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies are of such
a nature as ordinarily to require such absence, a brief description of
such duties, occupation, business, or studies shall be set forth in such
application.

(2) Where such duties, occupation, business, or studies 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 will be on vacation elsewhere on such day,
such application shall also contain the dates upon which he expects to
begin and end such vacation, the place or places where he expects to be
on such vacation, the name and address of his employer, if any, and if
self-employed or retired, a statement to that effect.

d. Where the absence is because of detention or confinement to jail,
such application 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 were a qualified voter,
entitled to apply for the right to vote by absentee ballot under the
provisions of this section, his spouse, parent or child, if a qualified
voter and a resident of the same school 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
subdivision and showing that he expects to be absent from the school
district on the day of the school district election by reason of
accompanying or being with the spouse, child or parent who is or would
be, if he 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 clerk of
the school district or designee of the trustees or school board 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. The clerk of the school district or a designee of the trustees or
school board shall request registration lists from the board of
elections pursuant to subdivision three of section 5-612 of the election
law for those voters whose registration record has been marked
"permanently disabled". An applicant whose ability to appear personally
at the polling place of the school district of which he is a qualified
voter is substantially impaired by reason of permanent illness or
physical disability and whose registration record has been marked
"permanently disabled" as determined by the board of elections pursuant
to the provisions of this chapter and who has previously applied for an
absentee ballot shall be entitled to receive subsequent absentee ballots
pursuant to the provisions of this section without making separate
application for such absentee ballot, and the clerk of the school
district or a designee of the trustees or school board shall send an
absentee ballot to such voter at his last known address 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
clerk of the school district or a designee of the trustees or school
board shall determine whether such ballot shall be sent by first class
or by certified mail. All such ballots shall be mailed in the same
manner as determined by the trustees or the board of education.

3. If, upon examining the application required under the provisions of
subdivision two of this section, and upon such inquiry as it deems
proper, the clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or
school board shall be satisfied that the applicant is a qualified voter
of the district, and entitled to vote by absentee ballot, such clerk of
the school district or designee of the trustees or school board shall
cause to be issued or mailed to the applicant an absentee voter's ballot
and the clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or
school board shall make an appropriate entry on the poll list pursuant
to section two thousand twenty-nine of this part.

4. The clerk of the school district or a designee of the trustees or
school board shall also mail an absentee ballot to every qualified voter
otherwise eligible for such ballot, who requests an absentee ballot from
such clerk or trustees or school board designee in a letter which is
signed by the voter and received by the clerk or trustees or school
board designee not earlier than the thirtieth day nor later than the
seventh day before the election for which the ballot is first requested
and which states the address where the voter resides and to which the
ballot is to be mailed. The clerk or designee of the trustees or school
board shall enclose with such ballot a form of application for absentee
ballot. The absentee ballot of a voter who requested such ballot by
letter, rather than application, shall not be counted unless a valid
application form, signed by such voter, is received by the clerk of the
school district or designee of the trustees or school board with such
ballot.

5. Ballots for absentee voters shall be, as nearly as practicable, in
the same form as those to be voted at the district election; if the vote
at such election shall be by ballot, the absentee ballot shall conform
to the regular ballot; if the vote of such election shall be by voting
machine, the absentee ballot shall conform as closely as possible to the
manner in which the names of the candidates, the questions and the
propositions appear on the voting machines, except that the absentee
ballot shall also contain a space for a write-in or write-ins. On the
back of such absentee ballots shall be printed words "Official Ballot,
Absentee Voter."

6. a. The clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or
school board shall enclose each absentee voter's ballot in an envelope
which shall be labelled:

ELECTION MATERIAL

PLEASE EXPEDITE

On one side of such envelope shall be printed:

OFFICIAL BALLOT, ABSENTEE VOTER

for

School District Election
Name of Voter ..........................................................
Residence (street and number, if any) ..................................
City (or Town) of ......................................................
County of ..............................................................
School District ........................................................
School Election District (if applicable) ...............................

The date of the election and name of the school district shall be
printed, and the name of the voter, residence, school district and
school election district (if applicable) shall be included.

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 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 disabilities 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 ...........................

c. The envelope shall be gummed, ready for sealing, and shall have
printed thereon, on the side opposite the statement, instructions as to
the duties of the voter after the marking of the ballot, which
instructions shall include a specific direction stating that the
envelope must reach the office of the clerk of the school district or
designee of the trustees or school board not later than five P.M. on the
day of the election in order that his vote may be canvassed.

d. A person who shall make any material false statement in the
statement of the absentee voter appearing on the reverse side of the
envelope as provided in this subdivision, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.

7. The clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or
school board shall make a list of all persons to whom absentee voter's
ballots shall have been issued and maintain such list where it shall be
available for public inspection during regular office hours until the
day of the election. Any qualified voter may, upon examination of such
list, file a written challenge of the qualifications as a voter of any
person whose name appears on such list, stating the reasons for such
challenge. A challenge to an absentee ballot may not be made on the
basis that the voter should have applied for an early mail ballot. Such
written challenge shall be transmitted by the clerk or the designee of
the trustees or school board to the inspectors of election on election
day.

8. a. The clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or
school board shall be authorized to call upon the commissioner of police
and the officers and members of the police force for such assistance in
the enforcement of the provisions of this section as such trustees or
board shall require, and such commissioner and officers and members of
the police force shall be authorized to render such assistance.

b. The clerk of the school district or designee of the trustees or
school board may require any person to attend before it at the office of
the clerk of the school district or the office of the designee of the
trustees or school board and be examined by the trustees or board as to
any matter in relation to which such trustees or board is charged with a
duty under this section, and may issue a subpoena therefor. Each member
of such trustees or board shall be authorized to administer any oath
that may be required or authorized by law in this connection.

9. No absentee voter's ballot shall be canvassed, unless it shall have
been received in the office of the clerk of the school district or
designee of the trustees or school board not later than five P.M. on the
day of the election.

10. The clerk of the district or designee of the trustees or school
board shall, on the day of the election, transmit all absentee voters'
envelopes, received by him in accordance with subdivision eight of this
section, to the inspectors of election.

11. If a person whose name is on an envelope as a voter shall have
already voted in person at such school district election, or if there is
no signature on the envelope, this envelope shall be laid aside unopened
and be returned unopened to the clerk of the district or designee of the
trustees or school board. If such person has not so voted in person, and
if no objection is made, or if an objection made be not sustained, the
envelope shall be opened and the ballot withdrawn without unfolding and
deposited in the proper box or boxes.

12. If the inspectors of election shall have received an envelope, and
upon opening the same no ballot shall be found therein, the inspectors
shall make a memorandum showing that the ballot is missing. When the
casting of absentee voters' ballots shall have been completed, the
inspectors shall ascertain the number of such ballots which have been
deposited in the ballot box by deducting from the number of envelopes
opened the number of missing ballots, and shall make a separate return
thereof in duplicate. The number of absentee voters' ballots deposited
in the ballot box shall be added to the number of other ballots to be
accounted for in the ballot box. Such ballots shall then be counted or
canvassed by the inspectors of election along with the other ballots
cast at such school district election, or, where voting machines are
used, shall be added to the votes recorded on such machines.