New York Laws
Part 1 - General Provisions
2018-D - Military Voters.

(a) "Military service" means the military service of the state, or of
the United States, including the army, navy, marine corps, air force,
coast guard, merchant marine and all components thereof, and the coast
and geodetic survey, the public health service, the national guard when
in the service of the United States pursuant to call as provided by law,
and the cadets or midshipmen of the United States Military Academy,
United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy, United
States Merchant Marine Academy and United States Coast Guard Academy.
(b) "Military voter" means a qualified voter of the state of New York
who is in actual military service, as defined in paragraph (a) of this
subdivision, and by reason of such military service is absent from his
or her district on the day of registration or election, or a voter who
is discharged from such military service within thirty days of an
election and the spouse, parent, child or dependent of such voter
accompanying or being with him or her, if a qualified voter and a
resident of the same school district.
(c) "Military ballot" means the ballot prepared, printed and supplied
for use by the military for the election of members of the board of
education and school district public library trustees, the adoption of
the annual budget and school district public library budget and
referenda.
(d) "Military address" means the mailing address of a military voter
other than his or her residence address in his or her school district.
(e) "Appropriate school board of education" means the board of
education in whose jurisdiction the military voter resides as a
qualified voter.
2. A military voter may designate a preference to receive a military
ballot by mail, facsimile transmission or electronic mail. Such
designation shall remain in effect until revoked or changed by the
military voter. If a military voter does not designate a preference, the
board of education shall transmit the military ballot application or
military ballot by mail. If a military voter designates a preference for
facsimile transmission or electronic mail but does not provide the
necessary facsimile number or e-mail address, the board of education
shall transmit the voter registration application, military ballot
application or military ballot by mail and request the omitted
information. All communications to the military voter shall include the
mailing address of the board of education.
3. Irrespective of the preferred method of transmission designated by
a military voter, a military voter's original military ballot
application and military ballot must be returned by mail or in person.
4. Ballots for military voters shall be mailed or otherwise
distributed by the board of education, in accordance with the preferred
method of transmission, as soon as practicable, but not later than
twenty-five days before any election as provided in this article, and
fourteen days before any election as provided in article fifty-three of
this title.
5. The military voter shall mark the military ballot provided for in
this article in the same manner as an absentee ballot. After marking the
ballot, he or she shall fold such ballot and enclose it in the inner
affirmation envelope bearing the military voter's affirmation on the
outside of the envelope and seal the envelope. He or she shall then sign
the affirmation, with the blanks properly filled in. The inner
affirmation envelope containing the military ballot shall then be
inserted in the outer envelope addressed to the appropriate board of
education, which shall be mailed or personally delivered to the

appropriate board of education within the time limits provided by this
article.
6. The board of education shall cause all military ballots received by
it before the close of the polls on election day and showing a
cancellation mark of the United States postal service or a foreign
country's postal service, or showing a dated endorsement of receipt by
another agency of the United States government or are signed and dated
by the voter and one witness thereto, with a date which is ascertained
to be not later than the day before election and which must be received
in the office of the clerk of the school district not later than five
p.m. on the day of the election in order to be canvassed.
7. The board of inspectors shall thereafter process such ballots in
the same manner as provided in sections two thousand eighteen-a and two
thousand eighteen-b of this article for the canvassing of absentee
ballots.
8. The board of education shall determine, three days before the first
day for distribution of military ballots, the names of all candidates
duly nominated for public office and the amendments, referenda,
propositions and questions to be voted for on such ballots. If at a
later date the nomination of any candidate named on a military ballot is
found invalid, the ballot shall still be valid, but no vote cast for any
such candidate on such ballot shall be counted at the election. The
failure of any school board to include the name of any candidate or any
proposition or question on the military ballot shall in no way affect
the validity of the election with respect to the office for which the
nomination was made or the validity of the military ballot as to any
other matter.
9. The department is authorized to take such steps and do such things
as, in its opinion, are necessary to make effective the provisions of
any other section, in order to utilize fully any federal or other
facilities in the distribution of military ballots.
10. The provisions of this section shall be liberally construed for
the purpose of providing military voters the opportunity to vote. The
department shall have power to adopt and promulgate regulations to
effectuate the provisions of this section.