A00689 Summary:

BILL NOA00689A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S01461-A
 
SPONSORSilver (MS)
 
COSPNSRCusick, Wright, Farrell, Gottfried, Weinstein, Glick, Brook-Krasny, Cymbrowitz, Aubry, Brennan, Lentol, Kavanagh, Weisenberg, Perry, Weprin, Mosley, Colton
 
MLTSPNSRAbinanti, Benedetto, Braunstein, Bronson, Buchwald, Cahill, Clark, Cook, DenDekker, Dinowitz, Englebright, Galef, Gunther, Hennessey, Hevesi, Jacobs, Jaffee, Kellner, Kim, Lavine, Lifton, Lupardo, Magnarelli, Markey, Mayer, McDonald, Miller, Millman, Morelle, Moya, O'Donnell, Otis, Paulin, Peoples-Stokes, Pichardo, Pretlow, Quart, Ramos, Roberts, Robinson, Rosenthal, Rozic, Russell, Santabarbara, Scarborough, Schimel, Sepulveda, Simotas, Skartados, Skoufis, Solages, Stirpe, Sweeney, Thiele, Titone
 
Amd SS3-400, 4-117, 8-102, 8-104 & 8-508, add Art 8 Title VI SS8-600 & 8-602, El L
 
Relates to early voting in the state of New York.
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A00689 Actions:

BILL NOA00689A
 
01/09/2013referred to election law
02/12/2013reported referred to ways and means
04/25/2013amend and recommit to ways and means
04/25/2013print number 689a
04/30/2013reported referred to rules
04/30/2013reported
04/30/2013rules report cal.53
04/30/2013ordered to third reading rules cal.53
04/30/2013passed assembly
04/30/2013delivered to senate
05/01/2013REFERRED TO ELECTIONS
01/08/2014DIED IN SENATE
01/08/2014RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
01/08/2014ordered to third reading cal.42
02/11/2014passed assembly
02/11/2014delivered to senate
02/11/2014REFERRED TO ELECTIONS
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A00689 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A689A
 
SPONSOR: Silver (MS)
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the election law, in relation to early voting   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: The purpose of this bill is to establish early voting in primary, gener- al and special elections in the State of New York.   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill amends § 3-400(9) of the election law to provide that election inspectors and poll clerks, if necessary, at early voting locations shall be local board of elections employees or duly appointed individuals as chosen by the commissioners of such board of elections on an equal and bipartisan basis under law. Section 2 of the bill amends § 4-117 of the election law to ensure that early voting information, including days, hours and locations are mailed to registered voters as part of the "mail check" process,' Section 3 of the bill amends § 8-104 of the election law to add a new Paragraph (k) which provides that voting at all early voting sites shall be conducted in the same manner as on election day. Section 4 of the bill amends § 8-104 by adding a new subdivision 7 to require that the same polling place protocols that are observed on election day be extended to all early voting days. Section 5 of the bill amends § 8-508(2)(b) of the election law to provide that a space for challenged early voters be included on the 'challenge report". Section 6 of the bill adds a new title VI (§ 8-600 & 8-602) to the election law entitled "Early Voting" and sets forth the parameters of such early voting. § 8-600 states: *Early voting shall take run from the third Thursday before a general election until the Thursday before the general election. *Early voting shall Lake run from the second Thursday before a primary or special election until the Thursday before the primary or special election. *Local boards of elections shall designate at least four polling places in each county for early voting (5 including the board of elections itself) and that such polling places shall be geographically located so as to provide all voters in each county an equal opportunity to cast a ballot. It is time that New York State joins the 32 other states and the District of Columbia and institute early voting. All New Yorkers, regardless of work schedule or personal and professional commitments should have the ability to vote in each and every election. Early voting will make voting easier, more convenient, and most importantly, more accessible in our State.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: None   FISCAL IMPLICATION: There will be additional costs associated with staffing early voting locations as well as with printing and counting paper ballots associated with early voting, in addition to other unstated costs.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
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A00689 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         689--A
 
                               2013-2014 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                       (Prefiled)
 
                                     January 9, 2013
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. SILVER, CUSICK, WRIGHT, FARRELL, GOTTFRIED, WEIN-
          STEIN,   GLICK,  BROOK-KRASNY,  CYMBROWITZ,  AUBRY,  BRENNAN,  LENTOL,
          KAVANAGH, WEISENBERG, PERRY, MAISEL, WEPRIN -- Multi-Sponsored  by  --
          M.  of  A.  ABINANTI, BARRETT, BARRON, BENEDETTO, BRAUNSTEIN, BRONSON,

          BUCHWALD,  CAHILL,  CLARK,  COOK,  DenDEKKER,  DINOWITZ,  ENGLEBRIGHT,
          GALEF,  GIBSON,  GUNTHER,  HENNESSEY, HEVESI, JACOBS, JAFFEE, KELLNER,
          KIM, LAVINE, LIFTON, LUPARDO,  MAGNARELLI,  MARKEY,  MAYER,  McDONALD,
          MILLER,  MORELLE, MOYA, O'DONNELL, OTIS, PAULIN, PEOPLES-STOKES, PRET-
          LOW, QUART, RAMOS, ROBERTS, ROBINSON, ROSA, ROSENTHAL, ROZIC, RUSSELL,
          SANTABARBARA, SCARBOROUGH,  SCHIMEL,  SEPULVEDA,  SIMOTAS,  SKARTADOS,
          SKOUFIS,  SOLAGES,  STEVENSON, STIRPE, SWEENEY, THIELE, TITONE -- read
          once and referred to the Committee on Election  Law  --  reported  and
          referred  to  the Committee on Ways and Means -- committee discharged,
          bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended  and  recommitted  to  said
          committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to early voting
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-

        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 3-400 of the election law is amended  by  adding  a
     2  new subdivision 9 to read as follows:
     3    9.  Notwithstanding  any  inconsistent  provisions  of  this  section,
     4  election inspectors or poll clerks, if any, at early  voting  locations,
     5  shall  consist  of  either  board  of  elections  employees who shall be
     6  appointed by the commissioners of such board or duly qualified  individ-
     7  uals,  appointed  in the manner set forth in this section.  Appointments
     8  to the offices of election inspector or poll clerk in each early  voting
     9  location shall be equally divided between the major political parties.
    10    § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 4-117 of the election law, as amended by
    11  chapter 288 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
 

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05564-08-3

        A. 689--A                           2
 
     1    1.  The  board  of elections, between August first and August fifth of
     2  each year, shall send by first class mail on which is endorsed  "ADDRESS
     3  CORRECTION  REQUESTED"  and  which contains a request that any such mail
     4  received for persons not residing at the address be dropped back in  the
     5  mail,  a  communication,  in  a  form  approved  by  the  state board of
     6  elections, to every registered voter who has been registered  without  a
     7  change  of  address  since  the  beginning of such year, except that the
     8  board of elections shall not be required to send such communications  to

     9  voters  in  inactive status. The communication shall notify the voter of
    10  the days and hours of the ensuing primary and general elections, includ-
    11  ing the days and hours for early voting and the locations therefor,  the
    12  place  where  he  appears  by his registration records to be entitled to
    13  vote, the fact that voters who have moved or will have  moved  from  the
    14  address  where  they  were  last registered must re-register or, that if
    15  such move was to another address in the same county or city,  that  such
    16  voter  may  either  notify  the board of elections of his new address or
    17  vote by paper ballot at the polling place for his new  address  even  if
    18  such  voter  has  not  re-registered, or otherwise notified the board of
    19  elections of the change of address. If the location of the polling place
    20  for the voter's election district  has  been  moved,  the  communication

    21  shall contain the following legend in bold type: "YOUR POLLING PLACE HAS
    22  BEEN  CHANGED.  YOU NOW VOTE AT..........". The communication shall also
    23  indicate whether the polling place is accessible to physically  disabled
    24  voters, that a voter who will be out of the city or county on the day of
    25  the  primary  or  general  election  or a voter who is ill or physically
    26  disabled may obtain an absentee ballot, that a physically disabled voter
    27  whose polling place is not accessible may request that his  registration
    28  record  be moved to an election district which has a polling place which
    29  is accessible, the phone number to  call  for  applications  to  move  a
    30  registration  record  or  for  absentee  ballot  applications, the phone
    31  number to call for the location of registration and polling places,  the
    32  phone  number  to call to indicate that the voter is willing to serve on

    33  election day as an election inspector, poll  clerk,  interpreter  or  in
    34  other  capacities, the phone number to call to obtain an application for
    35  registration  by  mail,  and  such  other  information  concerning   the
    36  elections  or  registration as the board may include. In lieu of sending
    37  such communication to every registered voter, the board of elections may
    38  send a single communication to a  household  containing  more  than  one
    39  registered  voter,  provided that the names of all such voters appear as
    40  part of the address on such communication.
    41    § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 8-102 of the election law is amended  by
    42  adding a new paragraph (k) to read as follows:
    43    (k)  Voting  at  each early voting site shall be conducted in a manner
    44  consistent with the provisions of this article, with  the  exception  of

    45  the  tabulation  and  proclamation  of  election  results which shall be
    46  completed according to subdivisions eight,  nine,  and  ten  of  section
    47  8-600 of this article.
    48    §  4.  Section  8-104  of  the election law is amended by adding a new
    49  subdivision 7 to read as follows:
    50    7. This section shall apply on all early voting days as  provided  for
    51  in section 8-600 of this article.
    52    §  5.  Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 8-508 of the election
    53  law, as amended by chapter 200 of the laws of 1996, is amended  to  read
    54  as follows:
    55    (b)  The second section of such report shall be reserved for the board
    56  of inspectors to enter the name, address and registration serial  number

        A. 689--A                           3
 

     1  of each person who is challenged on the day of election or on any day in
     2  which  there  is early voting pursuant to section 8-600 of this article,
     3  together with the reason for the challenge.   If  no  voters  are  chal-
     4  lenged,  the  board  of inspectors shall enter the words "No Challenges"
     5  across the space reserved for such names. In lieu of  preparing  section
     6  two of the challenge report, the board of elections may provide, next to
     7  the  name  of  each voter on the computer generated registration list, a
     8  place for the inspectors of election to record the information  required
     9  to be entered in such section two, or provide at the end of such comput-
    10  er  generated  registration list, a place for the inspectors of election
    11  to enter such information.
    12    § 6. Article 8 of the election law is amended by adding a new title  6
    13  to read as follows:

    14                                  TITLE VI
    15                                EARLY VOTING
    16  Section 8-600. Early voting.
    17          8-602. State  board  of  elections;  powers and duties for early
    18                   voting.
    19    § 8-600. Early voting. 1. Beginning the third Thursday  prior  to  any
    20  general election for any public or party office, and the second Thursday
    21  prior to any primary or special election for any public or party office,
    22  and  ending  on the Thursday immediately preceding a general, primary or
    23  special election for any public or party office, persons duly registered
    24  and eligible to vote for candidates for such office shall  be  permitted
    25  to  vote in person by ballot for a candidate for such office. Voters who

    26  cast a vote at an early voting site during the early voting period shall
    27  be prohibited from voting on election day.
    28    2. The board of elections of each county shall designate at least five
    29  polling sites, including the board of elections itself, in  each  county
    30  or  borough  in the city of New York, for persons to vote early pursuant
    31  to this section. Such polling sites shall be geographically  located  so
    32  as  to  provide  all voters in the county an equal opportunity to cast a
    33  ballot, insofar as is practicable.  In  the  event  that  the  board  of
    34  elections  determines  that the number of early voting sites is insuffi-
    35  cient due to the number of voters who are voting  early,  the  board  of

    36  elections  may  establish  additional early voting sites for the conven-
    37  ience of eligible voters wishing to vote at  such  early  voting  sites.
    38  Further,  the  board of elections shall give adequate notice to eligible
    39  voters of such additional early voting sites. The provisions of  section
    40  4-104  of  this chapter shall apply to the designation of polling places
    41  for early voting except where such provisions are inconsistent with this
    42  subdivision.
    43    3. Any person entitled to vote early may do so  at  any  early  voting
    44  site  established  pursuant  to  subdivision  two of this section in the
    45  county where such voter is registered to vote provided, however,  if  it
    46  is  impractical  for the county board of elections to provide each early

    47  voting site all appropriate ballots for each election to be voted on  in
    48  the  county  or  such  board  of elections is unable to ensure that such
    49  voter has not previously voted early during such election, the board  of
    50  elections  shall  provide  appropriate  forms  of ballots only for those
    51  voters registered to vote in the area served by such early  voting  site
    52  as designated by the board of elections.
    53    4.  Polls  shall  be  open  for early voting from eight o'clock in the
    54  morning until eight o'clock in the evening each week day and  from  nine
    55  o'clock  in  the morning until five o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday
    56  and Sunday. Nothing in this section shall be construed to  prohibit  any


        A. 689--A                           4
 
     1  board  of elections from extending hours for early voting past the times
     2  specified herein.
     3    5.  The  board  of elections shall create a communication plan that is
     4  easily accessible and understood by all voters. Such communications plan
     5  shall utilize any and all media outlets, including social media.  Infor-
     6  mation  to  be  provided  shall include the location of all early voting
     7  sites and a notation whether  such  sites  are  accessible  to  disabled
     8  voters, dates and hours of operation, a clear and unambiguous message to
     9  voters notifying them that if such voters cast a ballot during the early
    10  voting period then they will not be allowed to vote on election day; and

    11  if  early voting polling places are regionalized pursuant to subdivision
    12  three of this section, the location of the early  voting  polling  place
    13  serving  the  voters  of  any  particular  city, town or other political
    14  subdivision.
    15    6. The form of paper ballots, if used in early  voting,  shall  comply
    16  with the provisions of article seven of this chapter that are applicable
    17  to  voting by paper ballot on election day and such ballot shall be cast
    18  in the same manner as provided for in section  8-312  of  this  article,
    19  provided  however that ballots cast during the early voting period shall
    20  not be canvassed until nine o'clock in the evening on election day.
    21    7. Voters casting ballots pursuant to this title shall be  subject  to

    22  challenge  as  provided in sections 8-500, 8-502 and 8-504 of this arti-
    23  cle.
    24    8.   Notwithstanding any other provisions of  this  chapter,  at  nine
    25  o'clock  in  the  evening  on  election day, the removable electronic or
    26  computerized devices in use by all voting scanners used during the early
    27  voting period shall be processed, in  a  manner  not  inconsistent  with
    28  article  nine of this chapter, by bipartisan teams of board of elections
    29  employees  or  election  inspectors  as  designated  by  the  board   of
    30  elections.   Thereafter, tabulated results tapes shall be produced and a
    31  canvass sheet reflecting the aggregated vote  results  of  early  voting
    32  shall be completed and signed by said bipartisan canvass teams.

    33    9.  Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter, at the end of each
    34  day of early voting, any early voting ballots that were not able  to  be
    35  scanned  at  any early voting site shall be scanned by a bipartisan team
    36  of inspectors assigned to such early vote site. Any  such  ballots  that
    37  remain  unscanned  because the scanner was unavailable, or because of an
    38  overvote or blank ballot warning on the ballot scanner screen, shall  be
    39  returned  to  the  board  of elections uncounted. At nine o'clock in the
    40  evening on election day  at  the  board  of  elections,  such  unscanned
    41  ballots  shall  be  canvassed  by bipartisan teams of board of elections
    42  employees  or  election  inspectors  as  designated  by  the  board   of

    43  elections. The votes from such ballots shall be recorded on tally sheets
    44  and  be  signed  by  said bipartisan canvass teams. Results tabulated on
    45  said tally sheets shall be added to the tabulated results tapes  totals,
    46  and  the  signed  tally  sheets  shall be affixed to corresponding early
    47  voting canvass sheets.
    48    10. Upon the completion of the canvass of  all  early  voting  ballots
    49  cast, the removable electronic or computerized devices used in all early
    50  voting scanners shall be used to produce the unofficial tally of results
    51  as required in section 9-126 of this chapter.
    52    § 8-602. State board of elections; powers and duties for early voting.
    53  Any   rule  or  regulation  necessary  for  the  implementation  of  the

    54  provisions of this title shall be promulgated  by  the  state  board  of
    55  elections  provided  that  such  rules  and  regulations  shall  include
    56  provisions to ensure that ballots cast  early,  by  any  method  allowed

        A. 689--A                           5
 
     1  under  law,  are  counted and canvassed as if cast on election day.  The
     2  state board of elections shall promulgate  any  other  rules  and  regu-
     3  lations  necessary  to ensure an efficient and fair early voting process
     4  that respects the privacy of the voter. Provided further that such rules
     5  and  regulations  shall  require that the voting history record for each
     6  voter be continually updated to reflect each instance of early voting by
     7  such voter.

     8    § 7. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
     9  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
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