A01009 Summary:

BILL NOA01009
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORPaulin
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add Art 18 §§18-100 - 18-110, El L
 
Establishes a ranked choice voting method for presidential elections whereby voters rank candidates according to the order of their choice and, if no candidate has received a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest first choice votes is eliminated and the remaining candidates advance to another counting round until a winner is determined.
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A01009 Actions:

BILL NOA01009
 
01/07/2021referred to election law
01/05/2022referred to election law
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A01009 Committee Votes:

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A01009 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
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A01009 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          1009
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     January 7, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Election Law
 
        AN  ACT  to amend the election law, in relation to establishing a ranked
          choice voting method for presidential elections
 
          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 article 18 to
     2  read as follows:
 
     3                                 ARTICLE 18
     4               RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
     5  Section 18-100. Definitions.
     6          18-102. Ranked choice voting method for presidential elections.
     7          18-104. Ranked choice voting method; ballots.
     8          18-106. Ranked choice voting method; procedures.
     9          18-108. Voter education.
    10          18-110. Construction.
    11    § 18-100. Definitions. "Ranked choice  voting  method"  shall  mean  a
    12  method  of casting and tabulating votes that simulates the ballot counts
    13  that would occur if all  voters  participated  in  a  series  of  runoff
    14  elections,  whereby the voters rank candidates according to the order of
    15  their choice and, if no candidate has received a majority of votes,  the
    16  candidate with the fewest first choice votes shall be eliminated and the
    17  remaining  candidates advance to another counting round. In every round,
    18  each ballot shall be counted as one vote for the highest ranked  advanc-
    19  ing candidate.
    20    §  18-102.  Ranked choice voting method for presidential elections. 1.
    21  Ranked choice voting for presidential elections. Beginning with the  two
    22  thousand  twenty-four  election,  all  presidential  elections  shall be
    23  conducted using the ranked choice voting method.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02136-01-1

        A. 1009                             2
 
     1    2. The state board of elections is  hereby  authorized  to  promulgate
     2  rules and regulations mandating all county board of elections to conduct
     3  all   presidential   elections,  including  general  elections,  special
     4  elections, and primaries to be held in the year two thousand twenty-four
     5  and for all presidential elections held thereafter, utilizing the ranked
     6  choice voting method.
     7    §  18-104.  Ranked  choice voting method; ballots. 1.  Notwithstanding
     8  the provisions of article  seven  of  this  chapter,  or  of  any  other
     9  provision  of  law to the contrary, ballots in an election for president
    10  and vice president of the United States shall conform to the  provisions
    11  of  this  section. The ballot shall be simple and easy to understand and
    12  allow a voter to rank candidates in  order  of  choice.  A  voter  shall
    13  include  no  more  than one write-in candidate among such voter's ranked
    14  choices.
    15    2. Instructions on the  ballot  shall  conform  substantially  to  the
    16  following  specifications,  although  subject  to modification, based on
    17  ballot design and voting machine:
    18    "Vote for candidates by indicating  your  first-choice  candidates  in
    19  order  of  preference.  Indicate your first choice by marking the number
    20  "1" beside a candidate's name, your second choice by marking the  number
    21  "2"  beside  a candidate's name, your third choice by marking the number
    22  "3" beside a candidate's name and so on, for  as  many  choices  as  you
    23  wish.  You may choose to rank only one candidate, but ranking additional
    24  candidates will not hurt the chances of your first-choice candidate.  Do
    25  not mark the same number beside more than one candidate. Do not rank the
    26  same candidate more than once.  Do not skip numbers."
    27    3. A sample ballot for an election subject to the ranked choice voting
    28  method shall illustrate the  voting  procedure  for  the  ranked  choice
    29  voting  method.  Such a sample ballot shall be included with each absen-
    30  tee ballot.
    31    4. The board of elections  shall  ensure  that  the  necessary  voting
    32  system,  vote  tabulation  system, or other similar or related equipment
    33  shall be available to accommodate the ranked choice voting method  where
    34  the ranked choice voting method is required by this article.
    35    5.  When  a  candidate  is nominated for an office to be filled at the
    36  election by more than one party, the voting machine shall be so adjusted
    37  that a candidate's name appears in each row or column containing  gener-
    38  ally  the  names  of  candidates for other offices nominated by any such
    39  party.
    40    § 18-106. Ranked  choice  voting  method;  procedures.  The  following
    41  procedures  shall apply in determining the winner in an election subject
    42  to the ranked choice voting method:
    43    1. The first choice marked on each ballot shall be  counted  initially
    44  by  election  officials.  If  one  candidate  receives a majority of the
    45  votes, excluding  blank  and  void  ballots,  that  candidate  shall  be
    46  declared elected.
    47    2.  If  no  candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes at the
    48  end of the initial count, the  candidate  receiving  the  fewest  first-
    49  choice  votes  shall  be  eliminated.  Each vote cast for the eliminated
    50  candidate shall be transferred to the candidate who was the voter's next
    51  choice on the ballot.
    52    (a) If a candidate is nominated by more than one party or  independent
    53  body,  the  vote  totals  from each party line containing that candidate
    54  shall be treated separately in the first round solely for the purpose of
    55  determining each party's vote share.

        A. 1009                             3
 
     1    (b) If a candidate is nominated by more than one party or  independent
     2  body,  the  vote  totals  from each party line containing that candidate
     3  shall be treated as combined in every round for the purposes  of  deter-
     4  mining  if  any candidate has a majority and determining which candidate
     5  to eliminate.
     6    (c)  For  the purposes of section 12-100 of this chapter, if a winning
     7  candidate is nominated by more than one party or  independent  body  and
     8  such  parties  or  independent  bodies  nominated more than one slate of
     9  candidates for elector of president and vice  president  of  the  United
    10  States,  the  electors of the party or independent body whose party line
    11  received the most votes of such parties or independent bodies that nomi-
    12  nated the winning candidate in the final round shall be elected.
    13    3. Candidates with the fewest votes shall continue to  be  eliminated,
    14  with  the  votes  for such candidates being transferred to the candidate
    15  who was each voter's  next  choice  on  the  ballot  until  a  candidate
    16  receives a majority of the votes, excluding blank and void ballots. When
    17  a  candidate  receives  a majority of the votes, such candidate shall be
    18  declared the winner.
    19    4. If a ballot has no more available choices ranked on it, such ballot
    20  shall be declared exhausted. Where a ballot skips two  or  more  consec-
    21  utive  numbers,  such ballot shall be declared exhausted where the skip-
    22  ping of numbers begins on such ballot. A ballot with the same number for
    23  two or more candidates shall be  declared  exhausted  where  the  double
    24  numbers begin on such ballot.
    25    5.  Where a tie is reached between candidates for last place, and thus
    26  elimination, occurring at any stage in the tabulation, the tie shall  be
    27  resolved  so as to eliminate the candidate who received the least number
    28  of votes at the previous stage of tabulation. In the case of  a  tie  to
    29  which a previous stage does not apply, or such previous stage was also a
    30  tie,  the  tie  shall  be  resolved by drawing lots. However, if the tie
    31  occurs when there are only two candidates remaining, the  tie  shall  be
    32  resolved in accordance with the provisions of this article.
    33    §  18-108.  Voter  education.  The  board of elections shall conduct a
    34  voter education campaign on the ranked choice voting system to familiar-
    35  ize voters with the ballot design, method of voting, and  advantages  of
    36  determining a majority winner in a single election.
    37    § 18-110. Construction. All elections held by the ranked choice voting
    38  method  pursuant  to  this  article  shall  be  subject to all the other
    39  provisions of this chapter and all other  applicable  laws  relating  to
    40  elections,  so far as is applicable and not inconsistent with this arti-
    41  cle.
    42    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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