Add §8-107, amd §§8-600, 4-132, 5-210, 5-226, 5-500, 5-601, 7-122 & 8-100, El L
Permits voting at any polling place within the same county or, within the city of New York, polling place within the city of New York as a voter is registered.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3234--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 2, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Election Law -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to permitting voting at
any polling place within the same county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new section 8-107
2 to read as follows:
3 § 8-107. Choice of polling place. Any voter registered to vote in any
4 election district within a county outside the city of New York shall be
5 entitled to vote at any polling place within that county. Any voter
6 registered to vote in any election district within the city of New York
7 shall be entitled to vote at any polling place within the city of New
8 York. Each board of elections shall ensure that each polling place with-
9 in its jurisdiction shall be equipped to print ballots on demand. The
10 state board of elections shall promulgate regulations to ensure that
11 auditing and recanvassing of votes shall remain simple, accurate,
12 affordable, and secure, including by requiring marks on ballots to
13 determine the relevant election district so ballots can be quickly and
14 easily sorted by election district. Nothing in this section shall be
15 read to permit a board of elections to reduce the number of polling
16 places below existing requirements, and each election district shall
17 have a polling place at which preprinted ballots shall be available,
18 which shall be deemed the polling place for such election district.
19 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 8-600 of the election law, as added by
20 chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
21 3. Any voter registered in an election district outside the city of
22 New York may vote at any polling place for early voting established
23 pursuant to subdivision two of this section in the county where such
24 voter is registered to vote[; provided, however, if it is impractical to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04319-04-3
A. 3234--A 2
1 provide each polling place for early voting all of the election district
2 ballots or if early voting at any such polling place makes ensuring that
3 no voter has not previously voted early during such election, the board
4 of elections may assign election districts to a particular early voting
5 poll site]. Any voter registered in an election district within the city
6 of New York may vote at any polling place for early voting established
7 pursuant to subdivision two of this section in the city of New York. All
8 voters in each county shall have one or more polling places at which
9 they are eligible to vote throughout the early voting period on a
10 substantially equal basis. [If the board of elections does not agree by
11 majority vote to plan to assign election districts to early voting poll
12 sites, all voters in the county must be able to vote at any poll site
13 for early voting in the county.]
14 § 3. Section 4-132 of the election law is amended by adding a new
15 subdivision e to read as follows:
16 e. On demand ballot printers for individuals entitled to vote in such
17 polling place where ballots for such individual's election district are
18 not available in pre-printed format. Ballot printers must be maintained
19 and serviced prior to each election. Paperwork must be created and
20 signed by the commissioners that each ballot printer that is intended to
21 be put into use in the upcoming election has been serviced and is in
22 good working condition.
23 § 4. Subdivision 9 of section 5-210 of the election law, as amended by
24 chapter 44 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
25 9. The county board of elections shall, promptly and in any event, not
26 later than twenty-one days after receipt by it of the application, veri-
27 fy the identity of the applicant. In order to do so, the county board of
28 elections shall utilize the information provided in the application and
29 shall attempt to verify such information with the information provided
30 by the department of motor vehicles, social security administration and
31 any other lawful available information source. If the county board of
32 elections is unable to verify the identity of the applicant within twen-
33 ty-one days of the receipt of the application, it shall immediately take
34 steps to confirm that the information provided by the applicant was
35 accurately utilized by such county board of elections, was accurately
36 verified with other information sources and that no data entry error, or
37 other similar type of error, occurred. Following completion of the
38 preceding steps, the county board of elections shall mail (a) a notice
39 of its approval, (b) a notice of its approval which includes an indi-
40 cation that such board has not yet been able to verify the identity of
41 the applicant and a request for more information so that such verifica-
42 tion may be completed, or (c) a notice of its rejection of the applica-
43 tion to the applicant in a form approved by the state board of
44 elections. Notices of approval, notices of approval with requests for
45 more information or notices of rejection shall be sent by nonforwardable
46 first class or return postage guaranteed mail on which is endorsed such
47 language designated by the state board of elections to ensure postal
48 authorities do not forward such mail but return it to the board of
49 elections with forwarding information, when it cannot be delivered as
50 addressed and which contains a request that any such mail received for
51 persons not residing at the address be dropped back in the mail. The
52 voter's registration and enrollment shall be complete upon receipt of
53 the application by the appropriate county board of elections. The fail-
54 ure of a county board of elections to verify an applicant's identity
55 shall not be the basis for the rejection of a voter's application,
56 provided, however, that such verification failure shall be the basis for
A. 3234--A 3
1 requiring county board of elections to take the additional verification
2 steps provided by this chapter. The notice shall also advise the regis-
3 trant of the date when his or her registration and enrollment is effec-
4 tive, of the date and the hours of the next regularly scheduled primary
5 or general election in which he or she will be eligible to vote, of the
6 location of the polling [place] places of the election district and
7 county in which he or she is or will be a qualified voter, of the
8 location of the polling place of the election district and county in
9 which preprinted ballots shall be available, whether such polling [place
10 is] places are accessible to physically handicapped voters, an indi-
11 cation that physically handicapped voters or voters who are ill or
12 voters who will be out of the city or county on the day of the primary
13 or general election, may obtain an absentee ballot and the phone number
14 to call for absentee ballot applications, the phone numbers to call for
15 location of polling places, to obtain registration forms and the phone
16 number to call to indicate that the voter is willing to serve on
17 election day as an inspector, poll clerk or interpreter. The notice of
18 approval, notice of approval with request for more information or notice
19 of rejection shall also advise the applicant to notify the board of
20 elections if there is any inaccuracy. The form of such mail notification
21 shall be prescribed by the state board of elections and shall contain
22 such other information and instructions as it may reasonably require to
23 carry out the purposes of this section. The request for more information
24 shall inform the voter that "THE FAILURE TO CONTACT THE BOARD OF
25 ELECTIONS AND CORRECT ANY INACCURACIES IN THE APPLICATION OR PROVIDE
26 REQUESTED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY RESULT IN A REQUEST FOR IDENTIFICA-
27 TION AT THE POLLS IN ORDER TO CAST A VOTE ON A VOTING MACHINE." If such
28 notice is returned undelivered without a new address, the board shall
29 forthwith send such applicant a confirmation notice pursuant to the
30 provisions of section 5-712 of this article and place such applicant in
31 inactive status. The state board of elections shall prepare uniform
32 notices by this section as provided for in subdivision eight of section
33 3-102 of this chapter.
34 § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 5-226 of the election law is amended to
35 read as follows:
36 1. If any voter has been registered in a wrong election district, the
37 board of elections shall, if he or she is a qualified voter in any
38 election district within the jurisdiction of such board, change his or
39 her registration to the correct election district. The board of
40 elections shall thereupon give immediate notice by mail to such voter
41 that his or her registration has been corrected, and also the location
42 of the polling [place] places of the election district in which he or
43 she is a qualified voter.
44 § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 5-500 of the election law, as amended by
45 chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
46 1. There shall be two records of the registration of each voter.
47 Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, one record shall be sent,
48 at the time of every election, to the polling [place] places where the
49 voter is entitled to vote, and shall be known as the "registration poll
50 record". Between elections it shall be kept in the main office or a
51 branch office of the board of elections. The other record shall be kept
52 constantly in such main office or branch office and shall be known as
53 the "central file registration record". The two types of records shall
54 be prepared in different colors.
55 § 7. Subdivision 1 of section 5-601 of the election law, as amended by
56 chapter 599 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
A. 3234--A 4
1 1. [A physically disabled voter whose polling place is located in a
2 building that is not accessible shall be entitled to vote in any other
3 election district whose polling place is located in a building which is
4 accessible, provided that the candidates and ballot proposals on the
5 ballot in such other election district are the same as those on the
6 ballot in the election district in which such voter resides.] Each poll-
7 ing place shall be accessible.
8 § 8. Subdivision 6 of section 7-122 of the election law, as amended by
9 chapter 411 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
10 6. On the reverse side of such inner affirmation envelope shall be
11 printed the following statement:
12 AFFIRMATION
13 I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, that I am duly
14 registered in the election district shown on the reverse side of this
15 envelope and I am qualified to vote in such district; that I will be
16 unable to appear personally on the day of the election for which this
17 ballot is voted at [the] a polling place of the election district in
18 which I am a qualified voter because of the reason given on my applica-
19 tion heretofore submitted; that I have not qualified nor do I intend to
20 vote elsewhere, that I have not committed any act nor am I under any
21 impediment which denies me the right to vote.
22 I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of
23 my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material
24 false statement in the foregoing statement of absentee voter, I shall be
25 guilty of a misdemeanor.
26 Date.................20..... .....................................
27 Signature or mark of voter
28 .....................................
29 Signature of Witness (required only
30 if voter does not sign his or her own
31 name)
32 .....................................
33 Address of Witness
34 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 8-100 of the election law is amended to
35 read as follows:
36 3. In any election district in which a primary of any party is uncon-
37 tested, no primary of such party shall be held. In any election district
38 in which the primaries of all parties are uncontested on the day of any
39 primary election, no primaries shall be held on such day [and the poll-
40 ing place shall not be opened for voting].
41 § 10. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.
