Requires the board of elections to establish an electronic system allowing absentee voters to monitor the status of their ballot and to correct an unaccepted ballot.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A7952
SPONSOR: Simon
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the board of
elections to notify absentee voters of the status of their ballot
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that absentee voters are informed of the status of their
ballot and given an opportunity to correct a ballot that is rejected
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends § 8-412 of the Election Law to require the Board of
Elections to:
*Confirm receipt and status (either accepted or rejected) of a voter's
absentee ballot, either in writing or online
*Provide a reason if the ballot has been rejected
*Provide a method for correction if the ballot has been rejected
Section 2 sets the effective date
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Voters who use an absentee ballot should have the same opportunities to
ensure that their vote is counted as in-person voters. Currently, absen-
tee voters are unable to find out if their ballot was accepted by their
local Board of Elections, or even if it arrived in the Board's office.
This system will allow absentee voters to enjoy the same confidence in
their vote that in-person voters do.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: A38 - referred to Election Law
2019-2020: A1280 referred to Elections
2017-2018: A4154 referred to Elections
2015-2016: A2071 referred to Elections
2013-2014: A2332 referred to Elections
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7952
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
August 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMON, LAVINE, SEAWRIGHT, CARROLL, REYES,
EPSTEIN, HEVESI, STECK, HYNDMAN, HUNTER, THIELE -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the board of
elections to notify absentee voters of the status of their ballot
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 8-412 of the election law is amended by adding two
2 new subdivisions 3 and 4 to read as follows:
3 3. The board of elections shall provide written documentation or
4 online confirmation of receipt of an absentee ballot and whether such
5 ballot was accepted by the board.
6 4. When an absentee ballot is not accepted by the board of elections,
7 the board shall provide the voter with written documentation or online
8 confirmation that such ballot was not accepted. The written documenta-
9 tion or online confirmation provided to the voter by the board shall
10 provide an explanation detailing the reason why the absentee ballot was
11 not accepted and how the ballot may be corrected.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11308-01-3