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ARTICLE 15-A.

[Article added by L. 1920, ch. 875, in effect May 20, 1920.]

ABSENTEE VOTERS.

Section 523. Right of absentee voters to vote.

524. Application for ballots.

525. Determination of absentee voter's application for ballot; delivery of ballot.

526. Preparation of lists of candidates.

527. Preparation and printing of ballots; names of certain candidates

to be printed.

528. Form of absentee voter's ballot.

529. Envelopes.

530. Method of voting.

531. Delivery of absentee voter's envelopes to the inspectors; canvass. 532. Objections to qualifications of absentee voter.

533. Judicial review of qualifications of voter.

534. Clerks' duties and ballot clerks' returns.

535. Duty of voter who is within the county on election day.

536. Ballot boxes to be provided where voting machines are used;

canvass.

537. Preservation of envelopes and ballots.

538. Penalties.

539. General provisions concerning elections to apply.

§ 523. Right of absentee voters to vote.

Subject to the provisions of this article, a qualified voter who, on the occurrence of any general election, may be unavoidably absent from the state or county of his residence on such day, because his duties, occupation or business require him to be elsewhere within the United States, may vote, and his vote shall be canvassed in the manner hereniafter provided.

Added by L. 1920, ch. 875, in effect May 21, 1920.

§ 524. Application for ballots.

A qualified voter desiring to vote at a general election under the provisions of this article shall make, and shall mail or deliver to the board of elections of the county or city in which he resides, his affidavit setting forth as follows: his name and residence address, which shall include the name of the county and of the city, town

or village, and the street or avenue and number, if any, or a brief description of the locality if his residence cannot be described by street or avenue and number; that he is a qualified voter of the election district in which he so resides; a statement that he expects to be unavoidably absent from the state or county of his residence on the day of the next general election because his duties, occupation or business require him to be elsewhere within the United States on such day; a brief description of his business or occupation, or of the duties, which require such absence; a statement of the special circumstances by which such absence is required, unless such duties, occupation or business are of a nature to ordinarily require absence from the state or county or to ordinarily require traveling beyond the boundaries of the state or county, which shall include among others the following: employee in the operation of railroad trains, when the railroad or the run of such employee crosses the boundary of the county, commercial、 traveler, actor, and federal employee having an office or position outside of the county; a statement that the affiant applies in good faith for an absentee voter's ballot or set of ballots, as the case may be. The affidavit shall be subscribed by the voter if he is able to write, and if he is unable to write that fact must be stated in the affidavit. Authentication of the signature, authority and official character of the officer before whom the affidavit purports to have been taken shall not be necessary when the affidavit is taken within the state; nor when it is taken without the state before a notary public, with seal, if his seal be affixed.

Added by L. 1920, ch. 875, in effect May 21, 1920.

§ 525. Determination of absentee voter's application for ballot; delivery of ballot.

To entitle such an applicant to a determination by the board of elections of his right to receive an absentee voter's ballot or ballots, the application must be received by the board not later than the seventeenth day before the general election. An application received after that time shall not be considered. Upon the due receipt of any such application, the board shall first examine the register to ascertain whether the applicant is duly registered for such election in the election district containing his residence, as stated in his affidavit. If the election district be one in which

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registration is required to be personal, the board shall compare the signature, if any, on the register with that of the applicant, on bis affidavit. Before delivering any absentee voter's ballot, in compliance with the application, the board shall determine whether the applicant has been duly registered and also whether he is a legally qualified voter. In determining the latter fact, the board may make such inquiry concerning the matter as it deems proper, and if the facts, as found by the board, show that the applicant is not a legally qualified voter in such election district, it shall reject the application. If a deputy superintendent of elections shall file with the board of elections his affidavit that he did visit and inspect the premises claimed by the applicant as his residence, and he interrogated an inmate, house-dweller, keeper, caretaker, owner, proprietor or landlord thereof or therein as to the said applicant's residence therein or thereat, and that the said affiant was informed by one or more of such persons, naming them, that they were acquainted with and knew the persons residing therein or thereat and that the applicant did not reside at said premises thirty days before the election, such affidavit shall be sufficient authority for a determination by the board that the applicant is not entitled to an absentee voter's ballot; but this provision shall not preclude the board from making such determination as the result of its own inquiries and without resorting to such affidavit. The board shall keep a record of applications, as they are received, for absentee voters' ballots, showing the names and residences of the applicants. Such record shall be open to public inspection during office hours; and as soon as practicable after the seventeenth day before the general election the board shall give to the chairman of the county committee of each party a list of all applicants to whom absentee voters' ballots have been delivered.

Except in the case of the occupations specifically enumerated in the preceding section, the board shall also determine whether the duties, occupation or business of the applicant, as set forth in his affidavit, are of a nature to ordinarily require absence from the state or county or to ordinarily require traveling beyond the boundaries of the state or county, and shall determine, if they are found to be not of such a nature, whether the special circumstances, as set forth in the affidavit, are sufficient. If it be found that the

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applicant is duly registered in the election district containing his residence, as stated in his affidavit, and if the board shall also determine that he is a qualified voter and that his affidavit is suffi cient, it shall deliver to the applicant, in the manner hereinafter provided, one absentee voter's ballot or set of ballots, the envelope therefor and a list, provided for in this article, of certain candidates for public office. Such ballot or set of ballots, envelope and list shall be delivered at the office of the board of elections to the applicant in person or, if he shall have so requested, to a member of his family, except that if the applicant shall have so requested, the board shall mail such ballot or set of ballots, envelope and list to the applicant at any address in the United States designated by him. The ballot or ballots, envelope and list, for an absentee voter, shall be ready for delivery at such office, or shall be mailed, promptly after the ballots shall have been printed and the board has determined the right of the voter to obtain the ballot or ballots. Added by L. 1920, ch. 875, in effect May 21, 1920.

§ 526. Preparation of lists of candidates.

The board of elections of each county, and of the city of New York, at least seventeen days before any general election, shall cause to be printed, for the use of absentee voters residing in any assembly district within the county or such city, a list of all nominated candidates, so far as known, for offices to be filled at such election in any political subdivision within the county or city, except offices as to which the names of nominated candidates are required by this article to be printed upon an absentee voter's ballot. The list provided for by this section shall contain the names, places of residence and business of the respective candidates, together with the titles of the offices for which and the names of the parties or independent bodies by which they were nominated, respectively; also the number of persons to be elected to each office. In the city of New York and in any county containing more than one assembly district, the list shall be classified by assembly districts. If any political subdivision shall be located partly in each of two or more assembly districts, the names of the candidates for election in such political subdivision shall be printed in connection with the names of candidates within each such assembly district;

and in such case there shall be a note or memorandum showing the election districts within the assembly district whose voters are entitled to vote for such candidates.

Added by L. 1920, ch. 875, in effect May 21, 1920.

§ 527. Preparation and printing of ballots; names of certain candidates to be printed.

At least seventeen days before a general election, the board of elections of each county, and of the city of New York, shall cause to be prepared and printed as many official ballots for absentee voters as it may deem necessary. Ballots shall be so prepared and printed for absentee voters residing in each assembly district in the county or such city and shall contain the names of all nominated candidates, so far as known, to be voted for by all the voters of such assembly district; and where a city is wholly within an assembly district, or an assembly district is partly within and partly outside of a city, if there are any city officers to be elected who may be voted for by all the voters of the city, separate ballots shall be prepared and printed for absentee voters of such assembly district residing within and outside of the city, respectively, in such manner that the ballots for voters residing within the city shall contain the names of all nominated candidates, so far as known, to be voted for by all the voters of such district and of such city. Added by L. 1920, ch. 875, in effect May 21, 1920.

§ 528. Form of absentee voter's ballot.

The names of candidates whose names are required by the foregoing section to appear upon the ballot shall be printed in appropriate sections, with titles of offices, section numbers, emblems, voting squares, names of parties and political organizations and blank spaces for writing in names of candidates, as provided for the regular official ballots. Following such matter, in as many columns as may be necessary, there shall be printed the titles, as near as may be, of all offices to be filled at such election, except. offices as to which the names of nominated candidates are required by the foregoing section to be printed. The offices shall be classified by appropriate descriptions, such as ward or town offices, using appropriate descriptions for other classes, if any. The title of

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