STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 632 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 6, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to absentee voting The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 8-400 of the 2 election law, as separately amended by chapters 97 and 104 of the laws 3 of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 4 (d) The board of elections shall mail an absentee ballot to every 5 qualified voter otherwise eligible for such a ballot, [~~who~~] when such 6 voter requests [~~such~~] an absentee ballot from such board of elections in 7 writing in a letter, telefax indicating the address, phone number and 8 the telefax number from which the writing is sent or other written 9 instrument, or an electronic application submitted by the voter by elec- 10 tronic mail or through an electronic transmittal system or web portal 11 established by the state board of elections or city or county board of 12 elections, which is [~~signed by the voter and~~] received by the board of 13 elections not earlier than the thirtieth day nor later than the seventh 14 day before the election for which the ballot is first requested and 15 which states the address where the voter is registered and the address 16 to which the ballot is to be mailed; provided, however, a military voter 17 may request a military ballot or voter registration application or an 18 absentee ballot application in a letter as provided in subdivision three 19 of section 10-106 of this chapter; and provided further, a special 20 federal voter may request a special federal ballot or voter registration 21 application or an absentee ballot application in a letter as provided in 22 paragraph d of subdivision one of section 11-202 of this chapter. The 23 board of elections shall enclose with such ballot a form of application 24 for absentee ballot if the applicant is registered with such board of 25 elections. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06364-01-1

S. 632 2 1 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 8-412 of the election law, as amended by 2 chapter 140 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows: 3 1. The board of elections shall cause all absentee ballots received by 4 it before the close of the polls on election day and all ballots 5 contained in envelopes showing a cancellation mark of the United States 6 postal service or a foreign country's postal service, or showing a dated 7 endorsement of receipt by another agency of the United States govern- 8 ment, with a date which is ascertained to be not later than the day of 9 the election and received by such board of elections not later than 10 seven days following the day of election to be cast and counted [~~except~~ 11 ~~that the absentee ballot of a voter who requested such ballot by letter,~~ 12 ~~rather than application, shall not be counted unless a valid application~~ 13 ~~form, signed by such voter, is received by the board of elections with~~ 14 ~~such ballot~~]. For purposes of this section, any absentee ballot received 15 by the board of elections by mail that does not bear or display a dated 16 postmark shall be presumed to have been timely mailed or delivered if 17 such ballot bears a time stamp of the receiving board of elections indi- 18 cating receipt by such board on the day after the election. 19 § 3. Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 20 9-209 of the election law, as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 21 2010, is amended to read as follows: 22 (iii) If such a federal write-in absentee ballot is received after 23 election day, the envelope in which it is received must contain: (A) a 24 cancellation mark of the United States postal service or a foreign coun- 25 try's postal service; (B) a dated endorsement of receipt by another 26 agency of the United States government; or (C) if cast by a military 27 voter, the signature and date of the voter and one witness thereto with 28 a date which is ascertained to be not later than the day [~~before~~] of the 29 election [~~day~~]. 30 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 10-114 of the election law, as amended 31 by chapter 165 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 32 1. The board of elections shall cause all military ballots received by 33 it before the close of the polls on election day and all ballots 34 contained in envelopes showing a cancellation mark of the United States 35 postal service or a foreign country's postal service, or showing a dated 36 endorsement of receipt by another agency of the United States government 37 or are signed and dated by the voter and one witness thereto, with a 38 date which is ascertained to be not later than the day [~~before~~] of the 39 election and received by such board of elections not later than seven 40 days following the day of a primary election and not later than thirteen 41 days following the day of a general or special election to be cast and 42 counted. 43 § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 11-110 of the election law, as amended 44 by chapter 99 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows: 45 1. To be counted, any ballot cast under the provisions of this article 46 must be received by the appropriate board of elections not later than 47 the close of the polls on election day except that all ballots contained 48 in envelopes showing a cancellation mark of the United States postal 49 service, or a foreign country's postal service with a date which is 50 ascertained to be not later than the day [~~before~~] of the election, shall 51 be cast and counted if received by the board of elections not later than 52 seven days following the day of election. 53 § 6. Section 11-212 of the election law, as amended by chapter 163 of 54 the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 55 § 11-212. Special federal ballots; deadline for receipt. All special 56 federal ballots received by the board of elections before the close of

S. 632 3 1 the polls on election day shall be retained by the board of elections 2 and cast and canvassed pursuant to section 9-209 of this chapter. All 3 ballots contained in envelopes showing a cancellation mark of the United 4 States postal service or a foreign country's postal service, or showing 5 a dated endorsement of receipt by another agency of the United States 6 government, with a date which is ascertained to be not later than the 7 day [~~before~~] of the election, shall be cast and counted if received by 8 the board of elections not later than seven days following the day of a 9 primary election or thirteen days following the day of a general or 10 special election [~~except that the special federal ballot of a voter who~~ 11 ~~requested such ballot by letter, rather than application, shall not be~~ 12 ~~counted unless a valid application form, signed by such voter, is~~ 13 ~~received by the board of elections with such ballot~~]. All ballots 14 received by the board of elections and all federal write-in ballots 15 received from special federal voters not later than seven days following 16 the day of a primary election or thirteen days following the day of a 17 general or special election, shall be retained at the board and shall be 18 cast and canvassed in the same manner as other ballots retained by such 19 board. 20 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.

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