Provides for the provision of voter registration forms to students by colleges, universities and public school districts; authorizes the pre-registration to vote of 16 year olds.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2852--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 24, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sens. KLEIN, SMITH -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Elections in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to voter registration and
enrollment
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 5-211 of the election law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 18 to read as follows:
3 18. All colleges, universities and public school districts located in
4 this state shall make voter registration forms available to any eligible
5 students in the same manner and subject to the same provisions and rules
6 and regulations as all other designated agencies; except that a college,
7 university or public school district shall not be required to collect or
8 maintain forms containing an individual's declination to register to
9 vote as required by subdivision ten of this section, or to conduct a
10 study and report thereon as required by subdivision seventeen of this
11 section.
12 Each college, university and public school district shall provide each
13 eligible student with a registration form within the first three weeks
14 of the first semester of the academic year or such student's entry to
15 school or arrival on campus pursuant to subdivisions two, three, four,
16 five, seven, nine, eleven, twelve and fifteen of this section. Every
17 college, university and public school district shall designate at least
18 one convenient campus location where students may receive voter regis-
19 tration forms and personal assistance in the completion of such forms.
20 Each college, university or public school district shall publicize its
21 voter registration services pursuant to subdivision seven of this
22 section, and shall offer to collect and transmit completed voter regis-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03546-02-4
S. 2852--A 2
1 tration forms from students to the local board of elections pursuant to
2 subdivisions two, three, five, nine, eleven, twelve and fifteen of this
3 section.
4 Any college, university or public school district may elect to solicit
5 the assistance of one or more recognized non-partisan campus based
6 organizations or student groups to assist in its efforts to offer
7 personal assistance, collection and transmittal of voter registration
8 forms.
9 In addition to the requirements of subdivisions two, five and eight of
10 this section, all colleges and universities offering voter registration
11 services shall inform students of their right to complete a voter regis-
12 tration form from their college address or any address at which such
13 student may regularly reside when not in school; inform students that
14 their decision to register or decline to register to vote shall have no
15 bearing on their college or university record; and notwithstanding the
16 provisions of subdivision nine of this section, shall not inquire or
17 keep records pertaining to any student's eligibility to vote.
18 In addition to the requirements of subdivision seven of this section,
19 all colleges, universities and public school districts shall place a
20 prominent link on their internet websites to the appropriate page of the
21 internet website of the state board of elections or the national
22 election assistance commission for individuals to learn about the quali-
23 fications to vote, and to download voter registration forms, except that
24 for colleges and universities in the city of New York and for the city
25 school district of the city of New York such link shall be to the appro-
26 priate page of the internet website of the New York city board of
27 elections. Such links shall be prominently featured during the first
28 and last three weeks of the academic year, and two weeks in advance of
29 state registration deadlines pursuant to subdivision three of section
30 5-210 of this title.
31 The state board of elections and, in the city of New York, the New
32 York city board of elections shall make available to colleges, universi-
33 ties and school districts a sufficient quantity of coded voter registra-
34 tion applications that identify each such application as originating
35 from either a college, university or public school district. The state
36 board of elections shall provide for the delivery of such coded applica-
37 tions by the first day of August of each year to any college, university
38 or school district within the state which submits a request therefor,
39 except that the New York city board of elections shall provide and
40 deliver such forms to any requesting university, college or school
41 district located in the city of New York.
42 Every board of elections scanning voter registration forms shall
43 capture any designated agency codes thereon and report them on a monthly
44 basis to the state board of elections.
45 § 2. The opening paragraph of section 5-211 of the election law, as
46 amended by chapter 265 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as
47 follows:
48 Each agency designated as a participating agency under the provisions
49 of this section, and college, university and school district, shall
50 implement and administer a program of distribution of voter registration
51 forms pursuant to the provisions of this section. The following offices
52 which provide public assistance and/or provide state funded programs
53 primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities are
54 hereby designated as voter registration agencies: designated as the
55 state agencies which provide public assistance are the office of chil-
56 dren and family services, the office of temporary and disability assist-
S. 2852--A 3
1 ance and the department of health. Also designated as public assistance
2 agencies are all agencies of local government that provide such assist-
3 ance. Designated as state agencies that provide programs primarily
4 engaged in providing services to people with disabilities are the
5 department of labor, office for the aging, division of veterans'
6 affairs, office of mental health, office of vocational and educational
7 services for individuals with disabilities, commission on quality of
8 care for the mentally disabled, office [of mental retardation and] for
9 people with developmental disabilities, commission for the blind, office
10 of alcoholism and substance abuse services, the office of the advocate
11 for the disabled and all offices which administer programs established
12 or funded by such agencies. Additional state agencies designated as
13 voter registration offices are the department of state and the division
14 of workers' compensation. Such agencies shall be required to offer voter
15 registration forms to persons upon initial application for services,
16 renewal or recertification for services and change of address relating
17 to such services. Such agencies shall also be responsible for providing
18 assistance to applicants in completing voter registration forms, receiv-
19 ing and transmitting the completed application form from all applicants
20 who wish to have such form transmitted to the appropriate board of
21 elections. The state board of elections shall, together with represen-
22 tatives of the department of defense, develop and implement procedures
23 for including recruitment offices of the armed forces of the United
24 States as voter registration offices when such offices are so designated
25 by federal law. The state board shall also make request of the United
26 States Immigration and Naturalization Service to include applications
27 for registration by mail with any materials which are given to new citi-
28 zens. [All institutions of the state university of New York and the city
29 university of New York, shall, at the beginning of the school year, and
30 again in January of a year in which the president of the United States
31 is to be elected, provide an application for registration to each
32 student in each such institution.] The state board of elections may, by
33 regulation, grant a waiver from any or all of the requirements of this
34 section to any office or program of an agency, college, university or
35 school district, if it determines that it is not feasible for such
36 office or program to administer such requirement.
37 § 3. The opening paragraph of subdivision 8 of section 5-211 of the
38 election law, as amended by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended
39 to read as follows:
40 Each participating agency, department, division or office that makes
41 available voter registration forms pursuant to this section shall offer
42 with each application for the services or assistance of such agency,
43 department, division or office and with each recertification, renewal or
44 change of address form relating to such service or assistance, a regis-
45 tration form together with instructions relating to eligibility to
46 register and for completing the form, except that colleges, universities
47 and school districts shall distribute voter registration forms in
48 accordance with subdivision eighteen of this section, and forms used by
49 the department of [social services] family assistance for the initial
50 application for services, renewal or recertification for services and
51 change of address relating to such services shall physically incorporate
52 a voter registration application in a fashion that permits the voter
53 registration portion of the agency form to be detached therefrom. Such
54 voter registration application shall be designed so as to ensure the
55 confidentiality of the source of the application. Included on each
S. 2852--A 4
1 participating agency's application for services or assistance or on a
2 separate form shall be:
3 § 4. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election
4 law, as amended by chapter 179 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read
5 as follows:
6 (g) Notice that the applicant must be a citizen of the United States,
7 is [or will be at least eighteen years old not later than December thir-
8 ty-first of the calendar year in which he or she registers] at least
9 sixteen years old when he or she submits an application to register to
10 vote and a resident of the county or city to which application is made.
11 § 5. Paragraph o of subdivision 4 of section 5-500 of the election
12 law, as amended by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended and a new
13 paragraph p is added to read as follows:
14 o. A space for "remarks" regarding other facts required by this chap-
15 ter to be recorded or appropriate to identify the voter[.]; and
16 p. A space for pre-registering applicants to respond to the following
17 question: "Are you at least sixteen years of age and understand that you
18 must be eighteen years of age on or before election day to vote, and
19 that until you reach the age of eighteen years your registration will be
20 marked as pending and you will be unable to cast a ballot in any
21 election?".
22 § 6. The election law is amended by adding a new section 5-507 to read
23 as follows:
24 § 5-507. Voter pre-registration. A person who is at least sixteen
25 years of age and who is otherwise qualified to register to vote may
26 pre-register to vote, and shall be automatically registered upon reach-
27 ing the age of eligibility, following verification of the person's qual-
28 ifications and address.
29 § 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015; provided, however, that
30 the provisions of this act shall only apply to school districts on and
31 after July 1, 2016.
