Niou, D'Urso, Ortiz, Colton, Pheffer Amato, Bichotte, Seawright, Gottfried, Hyndman, Richardson,
Rivera, Mosley, Stirpe, De La Rosa, Dinowitz, Walker, Wright, Blake, Simon, Miller MG, Barron,
Hevesi, Thiele, Rodriguez, Pichardo, Peoples-Stokes, Taylor, Jaffee, Epstein, Lifton, Kim
MLTSPNSR
Buchwald, Lentol
Amd §§5-102, 5-210 & 8-504, El L; amd §801, Ed L
Lowers the voting age to 16 years and requires that students receive education in civics and be given the opportunity to register to vote in the classroom.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3339--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL, NIOU, D'URSO, ORTIZ, COLTON,
PHEFFER AMATO, BICHOTTE, SEAWRIGHT, GOTTFRIED, HYNDMAN, RICHARDSON,
RIVERA, MOSLEY, STIRPE, DE LA ROSA, DINOWITZ, WALKER, WRIGHT, BLAKE,
SIMON, M. G. MILLER, BARRON, HEVESI, THIELE, RODRIGUEZ, PICHARDO,
PEOPLES-STOKES, TAYLOR, JAFFEE, EPSTEIN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
A. BUCHWALD, LENTOL -- read once and referred to the Committee 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 the qualifications of
voters; and to amend the education law, in relation to civic education
and student voter registration
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 5-102 of the election law is
2 amended to read as follows:
3 1. No person shall be qualified to register for and vote at any
4 election unless [he] such person is a citizen of the United States and
5 is or will be, on the day of such election, [eighteen] sixteen years of
6 age or over, and a resident of this state and of the county, city or
7 village for a minimum of thirty days next preceding such election.
8 § 2. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election
9 law, as amended by chapter 179 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read
10 as follows:
11 (g) Notice that the applicant must be a citizen of the United States,
12 is or will be at least [eighteen] sixteen years old not later than
13 December thirty-first of the calendar year in which he or she registers
14 and a resident of the county or city to which application is made.
15 § 2-a. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election
16 law, as amended by chapter 2 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
17 follows:
18 (g) Notice that the applicant must be a citizen of the United States,
19 is or will be at least sixteen years old [when he or she submits an
20 application to register to vote which will be effective for elections
21 occurring on or after the applicant turns eighteen years of age] not
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02079-02-9
A. 3339--A 2
1 later than December thirty-first of the calendar year in which he or she
2 registers and a resident of the county or city to which application is
3 made.
4 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 8-504 of the election law, as renumbered
5 by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
6 3. After receiving the answers as above specified, of any applicant,
7 the board shall, if it believes the applicant to be qualified or the
8 challenge is withdrawn, permit him or her to vote. Otherwise, the board
9 shall point out to him or her the qualifications, if any, in respect of
10 which he or she shall appear deficient. If, after such deficiencies have
11 been so indicated, the applicant shall persist in his or her claim to
12 vote, an inspector shall administer to him or her the following oath,
13 which shall be known as "The Qualification Oath": "You do swear (or
14 affirm) that you are [eighteen] sixteen years of age, that you are a
15 citizen of the United States and that you have been a resident of this
16 state, and of this county (of the city of New York) (village) for thirty
17 days next preceding this election, that you still reside at the same
18 address from which you have been duly registered in this election
19 district, that you have not voted at this election, and that you do not
20 know of any reason why you are not qualified to vote at this election.
21 You do further declare that you are aware that it is a crime to make any
22 false statement. That all the statements you have made to the board have
23 been true and that you understand that a false statement is perjury and
24 you will be guilty of a misdemeanor."
25 § 4. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 801 of the education law, as
26 amended by chapter 574 of the laws of 1997, are amended and a new subdi-
27 vision 6 is added to read as follows:
28 1. In order to promote a spirit of patriotic and civic service and
29 obligation and to foster in the children of the state moral and intel-
30 lectual qualities which are essential in preparing to meet the obli-
31 gations of citizenship in peace or in war, the regents of The University
32 of the State of New York shall prescribe courses of instruction in
33 patriotism, citizenship and civics, and human rights issues, with
34 particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery
35 (including the freedom trail and underground railroad), the Holocaust,
36 and the mass starvation in Ireland from 1845 to 1850, to be maintained
37 and followed in all the schools of the state. The boards of education
38 and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the state
39 shall require instruction to be given in such courses, by the teachers
40 employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such schools, over
41 the age of eight years, shall attend upon such instruction. All pupils
42 in the ninth and higher grades shall receive civic education for at
43 least eight full class periods, in accordance with the department's 9-12
44 social studies framework.
45 Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and maintained in
46 private schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools in grades
47 or classes corresponding to the instruction in the eighth and higher
48 grades of the public schools shall attend upon such courses. If such
49 courses are not so established and maintained in a private school,
50 attendance upon instruction in such school shall not be deemed substan-
51 tially equivalent to instruction given to pupils in the public schools
52 of the city or district in which such pupils reside.
53 3. The regents shall determine the subjects to be included in such
54 courses of instruction in patriotism, citizenship and civics, and human
55 rights issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity
56 of genocide, slavery (including the freedom trail and underground rail-
A. 3339--A 3
1 road), the Holocaust, and the mass starvation in Ireland from 1845 to
2 1850, and in the history, meaning, significance and effect of the
3 provisions of the constitution of the United States, the amendments
4 thereto, the declaration of independence, the constitution of the state
5 of New York and the amendments thereto, and the period of instruction in
6 each of the grades in such subjects. They shall adopt rules providing
7 for attendance upon such instruction and for such other matters as are
8 required for carrying into effect the objects and purposes of this
9 section. The commissioner shall be responsible for the enforcement of
10 such section and shall cause to be inspected and supervise the instruc-
11 tion to be given in such subjects. The commissioner may, in his
12 discretion, cause all or a portion of the public school money to be
13 apportioned to a district or city to be withheld for failure of the
14 school authorities of such district or city to provide instruction in
15 such courses and to compel attendance upon such instruction, as herein
16 prescribed, and for a non-compliance with the rules of the regents
17 adopted as herein provided.
18 6. a. The regents, in collaboration with the state board of
19 elections, shall make available to each high school two forms to be
20 distributed to all pupils who shall be sixteen years of age on or before
21 December thirty-first of each year. Such forms shall be distributed on
22 one date between the second and fifth school day in the month of January
23 of each year.
24 b. The first form to be distributed pursuant to this subdivision shall
25 be a standard voter registration form as prescribed by section 5-210 of
26 the election law. Such form shall be completed for each eligible pupil,
27 by school administrators who shall complete each field of the registra-
28 tion form except the fields pertaining to citizenship status, party
29 affiliation, signature and date. The content of the registration form
30 shall be explained to all pupils to whom forms are distributed and
31 pupils shall be directed to correct any incorrect information previously
32 completed by school administrators.
33 c. The second form to be distributed pursuant to this subdivision
34 shall be entitled "Voter Registration Opt-Out Form" and shall contain
35 the following statement: "I, the undersigned, decline to register as a
36 voter in the State of New York at this time, and defer my choice of
37 registration in the State of New York to a future date of my choosing."
38 Such form shall be created by the regents in collaboration with the
39 state board of elections.
40 d. Pupils shall be given classroom time to have the opportunity to
41 complete either the standard voter registration form or the voter regis-
42 tration opt-out form. After pupils have had time to complete both forms,
43 school administrators shall collect both forms from all pupils to whom
44 the forms were distributed. School administrators shall be required to
45 dispose of all voter registration forms for pupils who elect to not
46 register to vote.
47 § 5. This act shall take effect on the same date as a concurrent
48 resolution amending the constitution, entitled "CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF
49 THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing amendments to section 1 of article 2
50 of the constitution, in relation to the voting age"; provided, however,
51 that the amendments made to paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section
52 5-210 of the election law made by section two-a of this act, shall take
53 effect on the same date and same manner as section 2 of chapter 2 of the
54 laws of 2019 takes effect.
