Relates to notifying candidates of designation for certain county committees; requires the board of elections of the city of New York to provide notice to each candidate designated in a petition for election to a party position of a county committee located within the city of New York.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A494B
SPONSOR: Epstein (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to notifying candidates of
designation for certain county committees
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 6-134 of the election law by adding a new
subdivision 14 requiring the Board of Elections of New York City to
provide notice to each candidate designated for election to a party
position of a county committee located within New York City. The notice
shall also inform such candidate of the process for declining such
designation. Section 2 provides the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
This amended bill removes the required 10-day timeframe for the New York
City Board of Elections to provide notice to each candidate designated
for election to a party position within New York City. This amended
bill also .removes the requirement that the New York City Board of
Elections shall provide information for the process of accepting a
designation.
JUSTIFICATION:
In our country, political parties are governed at all levels by commit-
tees of citizens chosen by their peers. While individual party rules
dictate the responsibilities of committee members, in New York, at the
local level, county committee members are typically responsible for
organizing fellow party members, creating the party's platform, and
nominating the party's candidate in special elections for the state
legislature.
Because county committees play such a vital role in our state's demo-
cratic process by providing a framework for community members to get
involved in electoral politics, we must ensure that the system by which
committee candidates gain their seats is ethical and trustworthy. In
August 2018 New York Times reporting uncovered multiple instances in'
Which individuals were unwittingly nominated for positions on the Queens
county committee. Surprisingly, the dishonest practice of nominating
unwitting candidates, which invades-the privacy of these individuals and
undermines the democratic process by shutting-willing candidates, is not
considered a violation by the state board of elections.
To certify that candidates for county committee are running for these
important positions of their own volition, this legislation requires the
Board of Elections of New York City to provide notice to each candidate
designated in such petition for election to a party position of a county
committee county.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A4236 (Epstein) / S 326 (Myrie) - Assembly Election Law /
Senate Elections
2019-20: A7488A/505428A - referred to election law/REFERRED TO
ELECTIONS; REPORTED
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
On the one hundred eighth day after it shall have become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
494--B
Cal. No. 361
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN, ROZIC, DAVILA, CLARK, CRUZ, KELLES,
REYES, CUNNINGHAM, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, ARDILA -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.
of A. RAMOS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on
Election Law in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- reported
from committee, advanced to a third reading, amended and ordered
reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to notifying candidates of
designation for certain county committees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 6-134 of the election law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 14 to read as follows:
3 14. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon
4 receipt of a designating petition pursuant to this section, the board of
5 elections of the city of New York shall provide notice to each candidate
6 designated in such petition for election to a party position of a county
7 committee located within the city of New York informing such candidate
8 of such designation and the process for declining such designation in
9 accordance with the provisions of section 6-146 of this article.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
11 it shall have become law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00139-04-4
