NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9650
SPONSOR: Rosenthal TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the trans-
mission by mail or personal delivery of a certified copy of the state-
ments of canvassing boards to the state board of elections
PURPOSE:
This bill affirms the role of election officials in certifying elections
as purely ministerial and nondiscretionary.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 9-214 of the election law
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Local officials are required by law to certify the verified results of
an election. However, according to a recent report issued by Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C., more than 30 local
election officials in eight states across the country have either tried
to delay or deny the certification of election results since 2020. This
alarming trend requires all states to protect the integrity of national,
statewide and local elections from undue influence.
In 2020, two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers
in Michigan were pressured by the President of the United States to deny
the certification of the county's election results. In 2022, the Otero
County Board of Elections in New Mexico cited conspiracy theories for
its refusal to certify its election results, and in Fulton County, GA, a
local official sued the state, claiming that her role in certifying
election results was discretionary.
The right to free and fair elections is the cornerstone of our democra-
cy. Though state courts across the country have intervened in these
types of cases, it is critical that New York State law explicitly
require local elected officials to certify the verified results of any
election.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9650
IN ASSEMBLY
January 21, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the trans-
mission by mail or personal delivery of a certified copy of the state-
ments of canvassing boards to the state board of elections
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The first undesignated paragraph of section 9-214 of the
2 election law, as amended by chapter 286 of the laws of 1983, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 The board of elections shall transmit by mail or cause to be delivered
5 personally to the state board of elections, a certified copy of the
6 statement of the canvassing board relating to the offices of electors of
7 president and vice-president of the United States, United States
8 senator, representatives in congress and state offices, including
9 members of the state senate and assembly, and to the votes cast on any
10 ballot proposal submitted to all the voters of the state, within twen-
11 ty-five days after the election. It is the ministerial and nondiscre-
12 tionary duty of each board of elections, and each of the members of the
13 board of elections, to transmit by mail or cause the certified copy to
14 be delivered personally to the state board of elections. If any certi-
15 fied copy shall not be received by the state board on or before the
16 twenty-fifth day following a general election, or a special election, it
17 shall dispatch a special messenger to obtain such certified copy, and
18 the board of elections, immediately upon demand of such messenger at its
19 office, shall make and deliver a certified copy to such messenger who
20 shall deliver it forthwith to the state board.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14349-02-6
