Submission Date:
Question:
We are a Special Legislative District library holding our annual Budget Referendum and Trustee Election soon. It has come to my attention that we may be obligated to mail absentee ballots to certain people on a county supplied list. We have never done this before and with our small budget and staff time, this would presents a significant hardship for us to do this properly. Up until this point, we have made it apparent in all of our communications regarding the vote and in our public notices that absentee ballots are available at the library or by requesting one via phone or e-mail. Is this enough or do we really need to mail hundreds of ballots to people?
Answer:
In legalese, this question is: Does the Early Mail Voting Act apply to special legislative district libraries?
The answer is: NO.
The Early Mail Voting Act applies to elections conducted by the following entities:
- County Boards of Elections (Election Law Section 8-700)
- New York City (City Charter Section 1053)
- School Districts (Education Law)
- Special Elections by Towns and Villages (Town Law, Village Law)
By including County Boards of Elections and New York City, the Early Mail Voting Act covered all municipal entities, so municipal library votes conducted by a municipality are covered.[1]
By including school districts, the Early Mail Voting Act indirectly covered school district public libraries, because they must conduct their proceedings in the same manner as their school district. So, school district public library votes are (mostly) covered.[2]
Notably, the Early Mail Voting Act did NOT include language covering other public libraries conducting their own elections and budget votes.[3]
This means that a special district public library conducting an election and/or budget vote does not have to offer early mail voting unless its enabling legislation requires it.
Every special legislative district library will have to check its legislation on that, because every special legislative district library is different. Hopefully, that check will calm all concerns, because most enabling legislation has something like this:
Section 2. Election.
-
The trustees of the existing [name] library shall give notice of such election by the publication of a notice in one or more newspapers having a general circulation in the district to be served [and the vote shall be conducted at the library and counted]…
-
In the event that the district is created, there shall be an annual election conducted by the board of trustees of the [name] library district in accordance with the provisions of subdivision one of this section, at a time to be set by the board…
This typical language contains no mention of absentee ballots, early voting, or early mail voting, and—just as important—no requirement that the process follow the Election Law. Instead, the process set out (generally requiring one day of voting at the library) must simply be replicated, year after year.
So, special legislative district libraries, to be 100% certain, check your enabling legislation, but chances are you don’t have to offer early mail voting.
How can a library explain this to a public that might expect to have the early mail voting option?
As the member points out, communication with the voters is key.
A special legislative district public library is wise to have a written policy governing elections and voting. This policy can ensure that every aspect of the enabling legislation’s requirements is followed and can also help explain to the public why the process isn’t the same as voting in a municipal or school election.
The policy can then be used to develop a plain-language explanation to voters. For example:
The process for election of trustees and approval of the library’s tax levy is set by special state legislation that required votes be conducted by the Library. Because our legislation doesn’t provide for it, we cannot offer [absentee ballots, early voting, or early mail voting].
If you have an accessibility concern about reaching the Library on the day of the vote, please contact the Library at least three days prior, and we will arrange accommodations in advance.
You may hear of other libraries offering early mail voting. This is because different types of libraries have to follow different rules! If you have suggestions for improvements to our voting process, please send them to INSERT. A copy of the legislation governing our process is here.[4]
It is important for the public to know that you have done enough!
Thank you for a thoughtful question.
[1] Specifically, the Election Law covers any election where New Yorkers “cast a ballot for the purpose of electing an individual to any party position or nominating or electing an individual to any federal, state, county, city, town or village office, or deciding any ballot question submitted to all the voters of the state or the voters of any county or city, or deciding any ballot question submitted to the voters of any town or village at the time of a general election” [Election Law Section 1-102].
[2] See the recent Ask the Lawyer submission, Are School District Public Library Exempt from Early Voting Requirements?
[3] I scoured the text for this, which provided many interesting factoids, such as: the envelope provided for a town’s special election must be “gummed” [Town Law 84-b(5)(c)]. Actually, they all have to be gummed, but I like the image of town clerks making sure envelope gum has the right level of viscosity.
[4] Because who doesn’t want to read enabling legislation?
Tag:
Early Voting, Voting, Board of Trustees, Elections, Special Leg Libraries
