by this act and shall have the charge, custody and control of the offices, property, books, records, papers and documents pertaining to the powers and duties of such superintendents. After this act takes effect and until the appointment and qualification of such superintendent of elections, the present superintendents of elections shall have the powers and duties of the superintendent of elections as prescribed by the election law as amended by this act. This act shall not affect any matter pending under the election law at the time it takes effect or at the time of the appointment of a single superintendent of elections under section four hundred and seventy-one of such law as amended by this act, which pertain to the powers and duties of the present superintendents of elections, nor affect the running of time with respect to any proceeding provided for in the election law. Any such pending matter pertaining to the functions of the state superintendents of elections shall be continued and disposed of by the state superintendent of elections. [Added by chap. 678, Laws of 1915.] 1ARTICLE 15 Soldiers' and Sailors' Elections Section 500. Special polls in time of war. 501. General register of absent voters. 502. Poll books and oaths. 503. Official war ballots. 504. Official envelopes for war ballots. 505. Delivery of official war ballots, poll books and en velopes. 506. Lists of nominations. 507. Polls of election. 508. Opening of the polls. 509. Organization of the polls. 510. Conduct of elections. 511. Count of the votes. 512. Returns not to be rejected because of informality of election. 513. Disposition of envelopes and ballots. 515. Canvass by county board. 516. Canvass by state board. 517. Returns or statements not made and filed prior to certain dates in any year not to be canvassed. 1 Renumbered by chap. 800, Laws of 1913. Section 518. Provisions of penal law relating to crimes against the elective franchise to apply. 519. Filling vacancies in the office of inspector of elec tions. 520. Elections may be contested. 521. General provisions concerning elections to apply. 522. Copies of this article to be published and distributed. § 500. Special polls in time of war. Whenever, in time of war, any qualified voter of this state shall be in the actual military service of this state or of the United States, in the army or navy thereof, and by reason thereof absent from his election. district, such absent voter shall be entitled to vote as fully as if he were present at his place of residence in the manner hereinafter provided. § 501. General register of absent voters. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to prepare and make a general register in which shall be entered in alphabetical order the names of the voters of this state absent from their respective election districts in time of war in the actual military service of this state. or of the United States in the army or navy thereof. Such general register shall contain the name and residence of each such absent voter by street and number, if any, and the name of the county and city or town in which he resides, so far as the secretary of state can ascertain the same. It shall also contain the name or number or other designation of the regiment, company, troop, vessel or other command to which each such absent voter is attached or assigned, and the location of such command at the time of such entry, so far as he can ascertain the same. In order to secure the necessary information to make and complete such general register, it shall be the duty of the secretary of state to prepare proper blanks and forward the same to the commanding officer of each command in which there are any such absent voters of this state, to be filled out with the necessary information, attested by him, and returned forthwith, securely sealed, to the secretary of state. Such general register shall be a public record and shall at all reasonable times be open for inspection by any voter of this state. It is hereby made the duty of every public officer, and of every citizen, to furnish to the secretary of state such information as he may possess relating to such absent voters; and any person who shall refuse so to do, or shall wilfully furnish false information in reference to such absent voters, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for not less than one year nor more than three years. $502. Poll books and oaths. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to cause to be prepared and printed in book form a sufficient number of poll books, at least two books for each poll, for the use use of the inspectors of elections at the polls of the elections held under the provisions of this article. Such poll books shall be in the general form of those prescribed for use at elections in this state, omitting all columns except those for the number, name and residence of each voter, and so arranged that there can be entered therein, in addition to such entries, in separate columns, the name of the county and city or town in which the persons voting at such poll reside or claim to reside, and also the designation of the particular command to which each such person is attached or of which he forms a part. Upon the first page of each such poll book shall be printed the date and character of the election for which it is prepared, and blank spaces in which shall be written by the inspectors the place at which the poll was held, and the names and residences of the persons acting as inspectors of election thereat. Upon the page following the last page of each such poll book used for recording the names of voters at such poll, shall be printed a blank certificate, to be signed by the inspectors of election at the close of the polls. Such certificate shall be substantially in the following form: "We, the inspectors of election for the general (or special) election held at (here follows the name of the place) on the 19..., do hereby ...day of.... certify that the names of the persons recorded herein as having voted at such election, such persons numbering in all (here follows the number in figures and words), are all the persons who appeared before us and demanded to vote at such election, and took the oath required, and who voted at such election. Inspectors of Election." Such poll books shall also contain the oaths for the inspectors of election provided in section five hundred and nine of this article. § 503. Official war ballots. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to cause to be prepared and printed at least twice as many official ballots in the form hereinafter prescribed as there are voters absent from their respective election districts as shown by such general register. Each such official ballot shall be six inches wide and of such length as to allow one-quarter of an inch for the title of each office printed upon the face thereof and one-half inch for the name of each candidate for such office. as the voter may lawfully vote for and one-half inch for the title. of each class of offices. Each class of offices shall be separated by a solid black line one-eighth of an inch wide running across such ballot. All such ballots shall be uniform in size and style of type used and shall contain the titles of all offices, as near as may be, for which any voter may vote in any election district of the state at such election. The type and paper for such ballots shall conform generally to that used for the official ballots prescribed by this chapter. Such ballot shall be printed in substantially the following form: "STATE OFFICES. For Governor. For Lieutenant-Governor. JUDICIAL OFFICES. For Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals. For Justice of the Supreme Court for..... ..Judicial District. LEGISLATIVE OFFICES. For Representative in Congress for. . . . . . . Congressional District. ELECTION DISTRICT OFFICES. For Inspectors of Election for... Election District, Town of... Upon the back of each such ballot shall be printed the words: "OFFICIAL WAR BALLOT For the general (or special) election, held November 19..... § 504. Official envelopes for war ballots. He shall also cause to be prepared and printed at least twice as many official envelopes as there are voters absent from their election districts, as shown by such general register. Such envelopes shall be gummed, ready for sealing. Upon one side of such envelope shall be printed in substantially the following form the following: "OFFICIAL WAR BALLOT Upon the other side of such envelope shall be printed the following oath: "OATH OF ELECTOR. "I do swear (or affirm) that I have been a citizen of the United States for ninety days and am now of the age of at least twenty-one years, or will be on the......day of.... 19..; that I will have been an inhabitant of the state of New York for one year next preceding this election and for the four months preceding such election a resident of the county of .... qualified voter, residing at (street and in the (city or town of) .., and am a number, if any) ; that I am in the actual military (or naval) service of the state of New York or of the United States, and at present attached to .. (here state the particular command to which attached); and that I have not received or offered, do not expect to receive, have not paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, offered or promised to contribute to another, to be paid or used, any money or other valuable thing, as a compensation or reward for the giving or with |