Submission Date:
Question:
Our school district public library has offered early mail ballots for our 2024 and 2025 budget vote and trustee election. The school district is now telling us that the library is not obligated to offer early mail ballots and that only the school district is obligated to participate in early voting.
So, we have two questions:
- Is this information correct? And, if so:
- Since the library has used this in previous votes, do we need to continue using this additional form of voting by mail, or can we revert back to only using absentee ballots?
Answer:
Early mail ballots are required in most school district elections by the 2023 “New York Early Mail Voting Act” that went into effect January 1, 2024.[1]
While the Early Mail Voting Act[2] created important new ways to vote, it does not directly apply to libraries, except to specify that school districts holding library trustee elections and library budget votes must follow it.[3]
So, we aren’t going to spend too much time on the Early Mail Voting Act.[4]
Instead, we must enter the winding labyrinth of Education Law Section 260, which (among many other things) empowers school district public library trustees to host their own election and budget votes.
As we enter the labyrinth of Education Law 260, be careful!
Don’t be districted by subsection “3” (regarding joint town libraries... a fascinating chimera).
Don’t be lured from the path by subsection “5” (requiring that library boards to meet at least quarterly).[5]
And DON’T fall under the hypnotic gaze of subsection “6” (authorizing libraries to make annual contributions to the New York Library Association).[6]
Instead, cast your eyes upon glorious subsection “11,” which requires that school district public libraries must “establish, notice, and conduct” elections and budget votes (and re-votes) “in the same manner” as their school districts.
EXCEPT!
“... that the meeting need not, in the discretion of the board of trustees of the library, be held in separate election districts in those school districts where election districts have been established by the board of education.”
In other words: the school district library, when conducting a vote, must “establish, notice, and conduct” the process in the same manner as their district, except they don't have to use more than one polling location.[7]
It is possible that when the Early Mail Voting[8] Act was passed, the authors of the bill did not explore the winding labyrinth of Education Law 260.[9] However, the existence of an exception in Education Law 260 (not having to conduct the vote in separate districts, even if the district does) tells me that in all other aspects, a school district library must “establish, notice, and conduct” its elections and budget votes (and re-votes) “in the same manner” as its district... including use of absentee ballots and early voting.
There is no authority, case law, or indication in the supporting documentation of the Early Mail Voting[10] Act bill that contradicts this.
Which means that if the district is facilitating early voting, the library should, too. With so much at stake (trustee elections, budgets, etc.), until clear authority says otherwise, it would be unwise to do anything else.
So, to answer the first question: all signs indicate the comment was not correct (which means I won't answer the second question).
If enough school district public libraries find sending out early mail-in ballots too burdensome, a change to Education Law Section 260(8), adding “Early Mail Voting”[11] to the listed exceptions, should be explored. The current exception to having to do what the district does—not having to use separate polling stations—was likely for the sake of economy, so this could be, too.[12]
Thank you for a great question!
[1] Here is a citation to the new law: 2023 N.Y. Laws 481.
[2] I appreciate the Early Mail Voting Act, but I wish it had a different name. Every time I read the phrase “Early Mail Voting,” I see a man at the door, taking off his hat and saying, “Honey, they let us out early! Let’s go vote!”
[3] See N.Y. Education Law Sections 2018-e and 2018-f.
[4] “With all this extra time, I think I am going to support a write-in candidate!”
[5] That’s right, library trustees...you only have to have four meetings a year (unless your bylaws say different).
[6] So much in Education Law 260. It really is a workhorse.
[7] Unless it was chartered before April 13, 1971, AND the charter provides for something different. Sigh. There are ZERO absolutes in Libraryland.
[8] “Traffic was murder, babe, but I got here early! Now, where’s my voter registration card?”
[9] Maybe they got distracted by subsection “12,” requiring public libraries to try to donate books before discarding them.
[10] “Let me just put my voting pants on, and we’ll get over to the polls.”
[11] Last one! “Man, I just love voting before sundown. Smell that fresh air!”
[12] That said, because it would reduce voting options, I think there would need to be a compelling reason for the exception to be considered.
Tag:
Public Libraries, School Districts, Voting, Elections, Early Voting
