STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2739 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 27, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, BURDICK, SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law and the election law, in relation to extending the right to vote in school district elections to qualified persons who are sixteen years of age; and to repeal certain provisions of the election law in relation thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 and the closing paragraph of section 2012 of 2 the education law, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 115 of the laws 3 of 1973, and the closing paragraph as amended by chapter 919 of the laws 4 of 1974, are amended to read as follows: 5 2. [Eighteen] Sixteen years of age. 6 5. No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to vote at any such 7 meeting or election, by reason of sex, who has the other qualifications 8 required by this section; and notwithstanding the foregoing provisions 9 of this section, no Indian [eighteen] sixteen years of age or over who, 10 having been born in the United States to a member of an Indian tribe, or 11 having been naturalized or otherwise acquired citizenship, shall have 12 resided on an Indian reservation in the state for a period of thirty 13 days next preceding the meeting or election at which he offers to vote 14 or the spouse of such Indian shall be deemed ineligible to vote at any 15 such meeting or election of the school district where the majority, as 16 determined by the commissioner, of the Indian children of such reserva- 17 tion are being educated under a contract pursuant to subdivision two of 18 section forty-one hundred one of this chapter, except that the parents 19 or guardians of Indian children of such reservation who are being 20 educated in the schools of a district other than the district which 21 educates the majority of such children, shall be eligible to vote only 22 in the district where their children are being so educated. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06204-01-3
A. 2739 2 1 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 2603 of the education law, as amended by 2 chapter 115 of the laws of 1973, is amended to read as follows: 3 2. [Eighteen] Sixteen years of age. 4 § 3. Paragraph b of subdivision 5 of section 2018-a of the education 5 law, as amended by section 8 of part LL of section 56 of the laws of 6 2010, is amended to read as follows: 7 b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the following 8 statement: 9 STATEMENT OF ABSENTEE VOTER 10 I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, and will be at 11 least [eighteen] sixteen years of age, on the date of the school 12 district election; that I will have been a resident of this state and of 13 the school district and school election district, if any, shown on the 14 reverse side of this envelope for thirty days next preceding the said 15 election and duly registered in the school district and school election 16 district, if any, shown on the reverse side of this envelope and that I 17 am or on such date will be, a qualified voter of said school district; 18 that I will be unable to appear personally on the day of said school 19 district election at the polling place of the said district in which I 20 am or will be a qualified voter because of the reason stated on my 21 application heretofore submitted; that I have not qualified, or do I 22 intend to vote, elsewhere than as set forth on the reverse side of this 23 envelope; that I have not received or offered, do not expect to receive, 24 have not paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, offered or prom- 25 ised to contribute to another to be paid or used, any money or other 26 valuable thing, as a compensation or reward for the giving or withhold- 27 ing of a vote at this school district election, and have not made any 28 promise to influence the giving or withholding of any such votes; that I 29 have not made or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet or 30 wager depending upon the result of this school district election; and 31 that I have not been convicted of bribery or any infamous crime, or, if 32 so convicted, that I have been pardoned or restored to all the rights of 33 a citizen, without restriction as to the right of suffrage, or received 34 a certificate of relief from disabilities or a certificate of good 35 conduct pursuant to article twenty-three of the correction law removing 36 my disability to register and vote. 37 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of 38 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material 39 false statement in the foregoing statement of absentee voter, I shall be 40 guilty of a misdemeanor. 41 Date.....................Signature of Voter .......................... 42 § 4. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 43 2018-b of the education law, as amended by chapter 60 of the laws of 44 2021, are amended to read as follows: 45 (1) [his] the applicant's name and residence address, including the 46 street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if any; (2) 47 that [he] the applicant is or will be, on the day of the school district 48 election, a qualified voter of the school district in which [he] such 49 applicant resides in, that [he] the applicant is or will be, on such 50 date, over [eighteen] sixteen years of age, a citizen of the United 51 States and has or will have resided in the district for thirty days next 52 preceding such date;
A. 2739 3 1 § 5. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 2 2018-b of the education law, as amended by chapter 46 of the laws of 3 1992, are amended to read as follows: 4 (1) [his] the applicant's name and residence address, including the 5 street and number, if any, or town and rural delivery route, if any; (2) 6 that [he] the applicant is or will be, on the day of the school district 7 election, a qualified voter of the school district in which [he] such 8 applicant resides in, that [he] the applicant is or will be, on such 9 date, over [eighteen] sixteen years of age, a citizen of the United 10 States and has or will have resided in the district for thirty days next 11 preceding such date; 12 § 6. Paragraph b of subdivision 6 of section 2018-b of the education 13 law, as amended by section 9 of part LL of chapter 56 of the laws of 14 2010, is amended to read as follows: 15 b. On the reverse side of such envelope shall be printed the following 16 statement: 17 STATEMENT OF ABSENTEE VOTER 18 I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, and will be at 19 least [eighteen] sixteen years of age on the date of the school district 20 election; that I will have been a resident of this state and of the 21 school district and school election district, if any, shown on the 22 reverse side of this envelope for thirty days next preceding the said 23 election and that I am or on such date will be, a qualified voter of 24 said school district; that I will be unable to appear personally on the 25 day of said school district election at the polling place of the said 26 district in which I am or will be a qualified voter because of the 27 reason stated on my application heretofore submitted; that I have not 28 qualified, or do I intend to vote, elsewhere than as set forth on the 29 reverse side of this envelope; that I have not received or offered, do 30 not expect to receive, have not paid, offered or promised to pay, 31 contributed, offered or promised to contribute to another to be paid or 32 used, any money or other valuable thing, as a compensation or reward for 33 the giving or withholding of a vote at this school district election, 34 and have not made any promise to influence the giving or withholding of 35 any such votes; that I have not made or become directly or indirectly 36 interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result of this school 37 district election; and that I have not been convicted of bribery or any 38 infamous crime, or, if so convicted, that I have been pardoned or 39 restored to all the rights of a citizen, without restriction as to the 40 right of suffrage, or have received a certificate of relief from disa- 41 bilities or a certificate of good conduct pursuant to article twenty- 42 three of the correction law removing my disability to vote. 43 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of 44 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material 45 false statement in the foregoing statement of absentee voter, I shall be 46 guilty of a misdemeanor. 47 Date....................Signature of Voter ........................... 48 § 7. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph c of subdivision 2 of section 1951 of 49 the education law, as amended by chapter 919 of the laws of 1974, is 50 amended to read as follows: 51 (2) [Eighteen] Sixteen years of age.
A. 2739 4 1 § 8. Paragraph s of subdivision 2 of section 1951 of the education 2 law, as amended by chapter 60 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 s. The board of cooperative educational services shall provide absen- 5 tee ballots to qualified voters. The commissioner shall adopt regu- 6 lations for the purposes of implementing the provisions of this para- 7 graph which shall include, but not be limited to, creating the procedure 8 for which such absentee ballots shall be submitted; providing that such 9 absentee ballots shall be, as nearly as practicable, in the same form as 10 those voted at the district election; requiring that any absentee ballot 11 applicant is or will be, on the day of the vote, a qualified voter of 12 the board of cooperative educational services and that he or she will be 13 on such date over [eighteen] sixteen years of age, a citizen of the 14 United States and has or will have resided in said district for thirty 15 days next preceding such date; and providing instructions as to the 16 proper marking thereof. For purposes of this paragraph, qualified voters 17 of a board of cooperative educational services may request an absentee 18 ballot subject to the conditions set forth in paragraph a of subdivision 19 two of section two thousand eighteen-b of this title. 20 § 9. Paragraph s of subdivision 2 of section 1951 of the education 21 law, as amended by chapter 722 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read 22 as follows: 23 s. The board of cooperative educational services shall provide absen- 24 tee ballots to qualified voters. The commissioner shall adopt regu- 25 lations for the purposes of implementing the provisions of this para- 26 graph which shall include, but not be limited to, creating the procedure 27 for which such absentee ballots shall be submitted; providing that such 28 absentee ballots shall be, as nearly as practicable, in the same form as 29 those voted at the district election; requiring that any absentee ballot 30 applicant is or will be, on the day of the vote, a qualified voter of 31 the board of cooperative educational services and that he or she will be 32 on such date over [eighteen] sixteen years of age, a citizen of the 33 United States and has or will have resided in said district for thirty 34 days next preceding such date; and providing instructions as to the 35 proper marking thereof. 36 § 10. Subdivision 5 of section 2609 of the education law, as amended 37 by chapter 919 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as follows: 38 5. Any qualified voter of a city school district may challenge the 39 right of a person to vote at the time when he requests a ballot. All 40 persons named upon the applicable register as having been challenged 41 prior to the day of the election shall also be challenged before they 42 are given ballots to vote. The chairman of the board of inspectors shall 43 administer to each person so challenged the following oath: "I do 44 solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am a citizen of the United States; 45 that I am of the age of [eighteen] sixteen years or more; that I have 46 been an inhabitant of the State for the past year, a resident of the 47 county for the past four months and for the thirty days past an actual 48 resident of this city school district and am therefore qualified to vote 49 at this election." If the person challenged so swears or affirms, he 50 shall be permitted to vote at such election; but if he shall refuse to 51 so swear or affirm, he shall not be given a ballot or be permitted to 52 vote. 53 § 11. Section 5-102 of the election law is amended by adding a new 54 subdivision 3 to read as follows: 55 3. The provisions of subdivision one of this section with respect to 56 the age requirement for purposes of qualifying to vote shall not apply
A. 2739 5 1 to any school district meeting or school district election, and nothing 2 in this section or any other provision of this chapter shall be 3 construed to prohibit a person sixteen years of age or older who is 4 qualified to vote in a school district meeting or school district 5 election. 6 § 12. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election 7 law is REPEALED and two new paragraphs (g) and (g-1) are added to read 8 as follows: 9 (g) Notice that the applicant must be: 10 (i) A citizen of the United States; 11 (ii) At least sixteen years of age at the time the application is 12 submitted or will be sixteen years of age no later than December thir- 13 ty-first of the calendar year in which such application is submitted; 14 and 15 (iii) A resident of the county or city to which such application is 16 made. 17 (g-1) Notice that such application to register to vote will be effec- 18 tive: 19 (i) For school district elections occurring on or after the applicant 20 turns sixteen years of age in the school district in which the applicant 21 resides; and 22 (ii) For all other federal, state and local elections occurring on or 23 after the applicant turns eighteen years of age in the applicable 24 election district in which the applicant resides. 25 § 13. Paragraph p of subdivision 4 of section 5-500 of the election 26 law is REPEALED and a new paragraph p is added to read as follows: 27 p. A space for pre-registering applicants to respond to the following 28 questions: 29 (i) "Are you at least 16 years of age or will you be sixteen years of 30 age on or before December 31 of this year?" 31 (ii) "Do you understand that you must be 16 years of age on or before 32 election day to vote in school district elections or meetings, and that 33 you will be unable to cast a ballot in a school district election until 34 you are 16 years of age or older at the time of such election, and that 35 until you are 16 years of age, your application for registration will be 36 marked "pending", and that after you turn 16 and until you are 18 years 37 of age, your registration will entitle you to vote only in school 38 district elections in the school district where you reside?" 39 (iii) "Do you understand that you must be 18 years of age on or before 40 election day to vote in all other elections, including federal, state 41 and local elections other than school district elections, and that you 42 will be unable to cast a ballot in any such federal, state or local 43 election until you are 18 years of age at the time of such election, 44 your registration status will be marked "school district only?" 45 § 14. This act shall take effect on the same date as a concurrent 46 resolution amending the constitution, entitled "CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF 47 THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing amendments to section 1 of article 2 48 of the constitution, in relation to the voting age in school district 49 elections"; provided, however, that: 50 (a) The amendments to paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 2018-b 51 of the education law made by section four of this act shall be subject 52 to the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 4 53 of chapter 60 of the laws of 2021, as amended, when upon such date the 54 provisions of section five of this act shall take effect; and, provided 55 further, that
A. 2739 6 1 (b) The amendments to paragraph s of subdivision 2 of section 1951 of 2 the education law made by section eight of this act shall be subject to 3 the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 4 of 4 chapter 60 of the laws of 2021, as amended, when upon such date the 5 provisions of section nine of this act shall take effect.