§ 175-b. Absentee ballots for fire district elections; special
provisions. 1. The board of fire commissioners of any fire district in
which officers 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
application setting forth (1) his or her name and residence address,
including 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 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 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
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 affidavit.
(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
subdivision 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. 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
disability and whose registration record has been marked "permanently
disabled" by the board of elections pursuant to the provisions of the
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.

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 election inspectors of the fire district shall be satisfied
that the applicant is a qualified voter of the district, and entitled to
vote by absentee ballot, such election inspectors shall place his or her
name upon a list, thereupon the applicant shall be issued or mailed an
absentee voter's ballot and the election inspectors of the fire district
shall make an appropriate entry on the list indicating that an absentee
ballot has been applied for by, and issued to, the applicant.

4. 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 that part of the regular ballot which relates to the election of
district members; if the vote of such election shall be by voting
machine, the absentee ballot shall be, as nearly practicable, in the
same form as those to be voted in the district on election day and shall
contain a space for a write-in or write-ins. On the back of such
absentee ballots shall be printed the words "Official Ballot, Absentee
Voter," followed by the words "For Officers of fire district."

5. a. The board of registration 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

at

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

The date of the election and name of the district shall be printed,
and the name of the voter, residence and district shall be written in by
the fire district.

b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the
following statement:

STATEMENT OF ABSENTEE VOTER

I do declare that I will have been a citizen of the United States for
thirty days, and will be at least eighteen years of age, on the date of
the district election; that I will have been a resident of this state
and of the 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 registered voter of said district; that I will be
unable to appear personally on the day of said 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
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 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..................

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 district not later than five P.M.
on the day of the election in order that his or her vote may be
canvassed.

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

6. a. The secretary of the fire district shall make a list of all
persons to whom absentee voter's ballots shall have been issued and keep
such list on file in the fire office 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. Such
written challenge shall be transmitted by the secretary to the
inspectors of election on election day.

b. Such list shall also be posted in a conspicuous place or places
during the election, and any qualified voter may challenge the
acceptance of the absentee voter's ballot of any person on such list, by
making his or her challenge and the reasons therefor known to the
election inspectors before the close of the polls.

7. a. The secretary of the fire district shall be authorized to call
upon the commissioner of police or the county sheriff and the officers
and members of the police force or sheriff's department for such
assistance in the enforcement of the provisions of this section as such
board shall require, and such commissioner and officers and members of
the police force and sheriff's department shall be authorized to render
such assistance.

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

8. No absentee voter's ballot shall be canvassed, unless it shall
have been received in the office of the secretary of the district not
later than five P.M. on the day of the election.

9. The secretary of the district shall, on the day of the election,
transmit all absentee voters' envelopes, received by him or her in
accordance with subdivision eight of this section, to the election
inspectors.

10. If, at the district election, any absentee voters' envelopes
shall have been received at the polling place, the election inspectors
immediately after the closing of the polls shall examine them, and shall
compare the signature, if any, on each envelope with the signature, if
any, on the register, of the person of the same name who registered from
the same address. If the signatures are found to correspond, the
election inspectors shall certify thereto by signing their initials
opposite the name of the voter at the appropriate place in the register.
If a person whose name is on an envelope as a voter, shall have already
voted in person at such district election, or if his or her name,
residence and signature, as stated on the envelope, are not on the
register, or if there is no signature on the envelope, this envelope
shall be laid aside unopened and be returned unopened to the secretary
of the district. If such person is found to be registered and 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. At the time
of the deposit of such ballot, the election inspectors shall enter the
words "absentee vote" at an appropriate place in the register.

11. During such examination any qualified voter present in the
polling place may object to the voting of the ballot contained in any
envelope upon the ground or grounds (a) that the person named thereon is
not a qualified voter of the district, or (b) that he or she was within
the county or city while the polls of the election were open, except
where the applicant is a patient in a hospital located within the county
or city or detained or confined in a jail located within the county or
city and except where the ballot was obtained upon the ground of
inability to appear personally at the polling place on the day of the
fire district election because of illness or physical disability, or (c)
that he or she was able to appear personally while the polls were open,
in cases where the ballot was obtained upon the ground that the voter
was a patient in a hospital located within the county or city or
detained or confined in a jail located within the county or city or upon
the ground of inability to appear personally at the polling place on the
day of the election because of illness or physical disability, or (d)
that he or she was not entitled to cast such ballot. An election
inspector shall make such an objection if he or she shall know or
suspect that the person named on such envelope is not such a qualified
voter or was so within the district or was able so to appear personally,
or was not entitled to cast such ballot. The election inspectors shall
forthwith proceed to determine each objection including any written
challenge transmitted to them by the district secretary as provided in
subdivision six of this section. Unless the election inspectors, by
majority vote, shall sustain the objection, the chairman, or if he or
she refuses, another election inspector shall endorse upon the envelope
the objection and the words "not sustained," shall sign such
endorsement, and shall open the envelope and deposit the ballot as
provided in this section. Should the election inspectors, by majority
vote, sustain such objection, the objection and word "sustained" shall
be similarly endorsed upon the envelope, the envelope shall not be
opened nor the ballots therein canvassed, and such envelope shall be
returned unopened to the secretary of the district. If the election
inspectors shall have received an envelope endorsed with the name of a
person who to the knowledge of the election inspectors is deceased on
the day of the election, the election inspectors shall return such
envelope unopened to the secretary of the district with the words
"deceased--objection sustained" endorsed on the envelope.

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

13. The provisions of this section shall apply to absentee ballots at
fire district elections, notwithstanding any other provision of law. The
provisions of any other law as they relate to fire district elections
not inconsistent herewith shall apply to the conduct of such elections.