New York Laws
Article 13 - Improvement District Commissioners
213-B - Absentee Ballots for Improvement District Elections; Special Provisions.

§ 213-b. Absentee ballots for improvement district elections; special
provisions. 1. The board of commissioners of any improvement district in
which commissioners are elected, may, by resolution, provide for
absentee ballots for the election of the commission, 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 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 election, a qualified voter
of the 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 is registered in the town; (4) that he will be unable
to appear to vote in person on the day of the 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 or business 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 improvement 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 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 improvement 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 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 board of inspectors of the
improvement 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 board of inspectors of the improvement district shall be
satisfied that the applicant is a qualified voter of the district, and
entitled to vote by absentee ballot, such board of inspectors shall
place his name upon a list, thereupon the applicant shall be issued or
mailed an absentee voter's ballot and the secretary of the board of
inspectors of the improvement 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 conform as closely as possible to the
manner in which the names of the candidates 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 the words "Official Ballot, Absentee Voter," followed by the
words "For Members of the board of commissioners of Improvement
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

for

Election of Members

at

Improvement District Election

Name of Voter ..........................................................
Residence (street and number, if any) ..................................
City (or Town) of ......................................................
County of ..............................................................
Improvement 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 improvement 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 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 improvement 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 improvement 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 challenge and the reasons therefor known to the inspectors of
election before the close of the polls.

7. a. The secretary of the improvement district 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 board shall require, and such
commissioner and officers and members of the police force shall be
authorized to render such assistance.

b. The board of inspectors of the improvement district may require
any person to attend before it 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 board of 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 in accordance
with subdivision eight of this section, to the inspectors of election.

10. If, at the district election, any absentee voters' envelopes
shall have been received at the polling place, the inspectors of
election 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 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 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 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 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 school district
election because of illness or physical disability, or (c) that he 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 was not
entitled to cast such ballot. An inspector shall make such an objection
if he 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
inspectors, by majority vote, shall sustain the objection, the chairman,
or if he refuses, another 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 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 inspectors of election shall
have received an envelope endorsed with the name of a person who to the
knowledge of the inspectors is deceased on the day of the election, the
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 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
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 inspectors of election 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
improvement district elections, notwithstanding any other provision of
law. The provisions of any other law as they relate to improvement
district elections not inconsistent herewith shall apply to the conduct
of such elections.