Enacts the "Make Voting Easy Act"; requires the board of elections to designate a number of early voting polling places based on the number of registered voters in each county; relates to the hours polls are open for early voting.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5424--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 16, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. TAYLOR -- 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 enacting the "Make
Voting Easy Act" to require that the board of elections designate a
number of early voting polling places based on the number of regis-
tered voters in each county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "Make Voting Easy Act".
3 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the election law, as added by
4 chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 74 of
5 the laws of 2021, paragraph (b) as added and paragraphs (c), (d), and
6 (e) as relettered by chapter 110 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read
7 as follows:
8 2. (a) The board of elections shall designate polling places for early
9 voting, which may include the offices of the board of elections, for
10 persons to vote early pursuant to this title[; provided, however, that
11 the].
12 (b) The largest city in the county or, if there is no city in the
13 county, the municipality with the highest population in each county
14 based on the latest federal decennial census, or the county seat in
15 Washington county, shall have at least one polling place designated for
16 early voting, and to the extent practicable if such city or municipality
17 has public transportation routes, such polling place shall be situated
18 along such transportation routes. [There]
19 (c) In counties with at least five hundred thousand registered voters,
20 there shall be so designated at least one early voting polling place for
21 every full increment of [fifty] forty thousand registered voters [in
22 each county; provided, however,].
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03251-12-1
A. 5424--A 2
1 (d) In all other counties with less than five hundred thousand regis-
2 tered voters, there shall be so designated at least one early voting
3 polling place for every full increment of thirty thousand registered
4 voters; provided, however, the number of early voting polling places in
5 [a county] counties with less than five hundred thousand registered
6 voters shall not be required to be greater than ten [unless required by
7 any other provision of law, and a county with fewer than fifty thousand
8 voters shall have at least one early voting polling place] nor less than
9 one.
10 [(b)] (e) For any special, primary or run-off primary election at
11 which no voters of the municipality with the highest population within
12 the county are eligible to vote, the board of elections may, in lieu of
13 having an early voting polling place in such municipality, designate a
14 polling place for early voting in the municipality with the highest
15 population within the county within which the voters are eligible to
16 vote at such special, primary, or run-off primary election.
17 [(c)] (f) The board of elections of each county or the city of New
18 York may establish additional polling places for early voting in excess
19 of the minimum number required by this subdivision for the convenience
20 of eligible voters.
21 [(d)] (g) Notwithstanding the minimum number of early voting poll
22 sites otherwise required by this subdivision, for any primary or special
23 election, upon majority vote of the board of elections, the number of
24 early voting sites may be reduced when the board of elections determines
25 a lesser number of sites is sufficient to meet the needs of early
26 voters.
27 [(e)] (h) Polling places for early voting shall be located so that
28 voters in the county have adequate and equitable access, taking into
29 consideration population density, travel time to the polling place,
30 proximity to other early voting poll sites, public transportation
31 routes, commuter traffic patterns and such other factors the board of
32 elections deems appropriate. The provisions of section 4-104 of this
33 chapter, except subdivisions four and five of such section, shall apply
34 to the designation of polling places for early voting except to the
35 extent such provisions are inconsistent with this section.
36 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 8-600 of the election
37 law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
38 follows:
39 (c) Polls shall be open for early voting for at least [five] eight
40 hours between nine o'clock in the morning and [six] eight o'clock in the
41 evening on each Saturday, Sunday and legal holiday during the early
42 voting period.
43 § 4. This act shall take effect April 1, 2022 and shall apply to any
44 general, primary, run-off primary, or special election held thereafter.
