BILL NO A07013A
SAME AS SAME AS S06862
SPONSOR Kavanagh
COSPNSR Brook-Krasny, Pichardo, Mosley
MLTSPNSR Thiele
Rpld & add S6-162, amd S7-114, El L
Relates to instant run-off elections in cities with a population of one million
or more.
BILL NO A07013A
04/29/2013 referred to election law
01/08/2014 referred to election law
02/24/2014 amend and recommit to election law
02/24/2014 print number 7013a
BILL NUMBER:A7013A
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the election law, in relation to
instant run-off voting in the city of New York; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
PURPOSE:
To establish instant run-off voting in primary elections for mayor,
public advocate, and comptroller in the city of New York.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill repeals Section 6-162 of the election law and
adds a new Section 6162. Subdivision 1 defines which offices are
subject to instant run:off voting. Subdivision 2 defines instant
runoff voting and provides that a second round of voting, using the
instant runoff voting method, shall take place if the candidate with
the most votes receives less than fifty percent plus one vote in the
initial round of voting. Subdivision 3 provides guidelines for the
design of the ballots to be used in instant run-off elections.
Subdivision 4 defines the instructions to be printed on the ballot.
Subdivision 5 provides that the board of elections, with the approval
of the state board of elections, may adopt devices, methods, and
ballot formats for sorting, counting, tabulating, and invalidating
votes for offices subject to instant runoff voting, provided that any
such changes substantially conform to the provisions of this chapter.
Section 2 of the bill amends subdivision 2 of Section 7-114 of the
election law to clarify that the instructions printed on the ballot
for elections subject to instant run-off voting differ from the
instructions typically printed on the ballot and can be found in
Section 6162.
Section 3 sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, if no candidate in a primary election with more than two
candidates for mayor, public advocate, or comptroller in New York City
wins more than forty percent of the vote, a run-off election is held
between the top two vote-getters two weeks later. Due to the adoption
of paper ballots and optical scan ballot machines, the New York City
Board of Elections cannot certify the results of a primary within the
required two weeks, nor can it ensure that military and overseas
voters receive their ballots in a timely manner. An instant run-off
method would allow voters to rank their choices and cast their vote
for a hypothetical runoff election at the same time that they cast
their vote for the primary election. Since an instant runoff election
eliminates the costs associated with a runoff election, the threshold
for avoiding a runoff should be raised from a forty percent plurality
of the votes cast in the primary to a fifty percent plus one majority.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None for the state. The city of New York would save 20 million dollars
for each runoff election that would no longer need to be administered.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.
