Electing to Pause: The Current Status of School Elections

School elections are statutorily required to be held on the third Tuesday in May. However, under Executive Order 202.13, issued by Governor Cuomo on March 30, 2020, school elections were formally postponed “until at least June 1, 2020, and subject to further directive as to the timing, location or manner of voting for such elections.” In addition to this postponement, the Order specifically postpones the circulation, filing, and collection of any nominating petition under the Education Law. In short: like many other events across the State, school elections have been placed on pause.

District Clerks and others who coordinate and assist with school elections are understandably looking for ways to bring certainty to the situation. Below is a summary of what postponed school elections mean for your district.

• No election date. There is no firm election date scheduled. Although the Order lists a date of June 1, this is not a designated date for which districts should plan to hold an election. June 1 is merely an assurance that elections will not occur before this time.
• Uncertain deadlines. Without a firm election date, then, there are no deadlines for many of the numerous requirements relating to school elections. These deadlines include (but are not limited to) the following: (a) the publication of legal notices; (b) the filing of board candidate petitions; (c) the budget hearing; (d) when residents may obtain a copy of the budget statement; (e) when an absentee voter must apply for their ballot; (f) when a military voter must apply for their ballot; (g) when absentee and military voters must be provided their ballot; (h) when a list of voters to whom absentee and military ballots were issued must be available for public inspection; (i) in districts with personal registration, when the register of voters will be available for public inspection; (j) the submission of propositions by voters for placement on the ballot; (k) when each of the 3 candidate expenditure statements are due; (l) when the budget notice must be mailed to qualified voters; (m) when a copy of the property tax report card must be submitted to SED; and (n) the date by which the District Clerk must pull names for the order of candidates on the ballot.
• Property tax report card implications. Note that the date when the property tax report card must be submitted to the State Education Department is the end of the business day immediately after it is approved by the Board of Education, but no later than 24 days before the election. This deadline could be included in the above list of uncertain deadlines; however, if your Board chooses to approve the property tax card before the annual meeting has been rescheduled, it may be required to submit the tax report card earlier than it otherwise may. See Education Law §§ 1608(7), 1716(7), 2601-a(3); 8 NYCRR § 170.11(e).
• Budget revotes. There is additional uncertainty regarding budget revotes: these are statutorily required to be completed on the third Tuesday in June (unless otherwise changed due to a religious holiday). In the event a budget fails to pass, a deadline of June 16 this year brings numerous complications.
• Electronic voting machines. Electronic voting machines may not be available for school elections, depending on timing. Once the dates have been set by the State, it will be critical for districts that rely on these machines to confirm with their county board of elections as to whether machines will be available. If they will not, districts must quickly get up to speed on the requirements for paper ballot elections. We will be happy to assist in this regard.

Although the above topics remain uncertain, there are ways in which your district can be as prepared as possible once the new election date is set. First, we recommend drafting your paper ballots now in as nearly as final form as possible. You can include any propositions that were passed by the Board (or are likely to be passed), slots for candidate names for the Board, the boilerplate language for your budget with a placeholder for the dollar amount, and the standard instructions. These ballots can be used for your absentee ballots, your military ballots, and as paper ballots (to be used universally if your district uses paper ballots or as backups in preparation for voting machines to be unavailable or to malfunction on election day). Second, we recommend highlighting the dates within your legal notice that will need to change so they can easily be modified when the new election date is set. Third, we recommend coordinating with your newspaper(s) of general circulation to understand their deadlines for publication. Once districts have a firm election date, legal notices can be in near-final form to be published on the appropriate dates. Fourth, we recommend publicizing through your social media account(s) and website the uncertainty of the election and the District’s commitment to updating the public.

We will be ready and available to assist you with modifying your legal notices to fit the new election dates and to otherwise advise on the election. As with past elections, our Firm’s attorneys will be available all day on election day and after the polls close to answer any questions as they arise. If you have questions in the interim, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.