Authorizes early voting at primary and general elections to be conducted from the Saturday prior to the election upon application by the voter and provides that permanent polling places shall be established by the county board of elections for early voting.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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6334
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LUPINACCI -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to authorizing early
voting at primary and general elections
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Article 8 of the election law is amended by adding a new
2 title 6 to read as follows:
3 TITLE VI
4 EARLY VOTING
5 Section 8-600. Early voting procedures.
6 8-602. Application for early voting.
7 8-604. State board of elections; powers and duties of.
8 § 8-600. Early voting procedures. 1. No earlier than four days prior
9 to the date of every primary and general election, a person may, upon
10 completion of a formal written application, vote for a candidate for
11 public office in a primary or general election, and such early voting
12 practice may take place at such person's designated polling place or as
13 designated by and through a county board of elections under the powers
14 granted pursuant to this section on or before the effective date of this
15 section. Each county board of elections shall provide at least one poll-
16 ing place for early voting within the jurisdiction of such board of
17 elections. Early voting shall be made available each day during such
18 period until the primary or general election.
19 2. Each polling place shall be open to the public for early voting
20 from the Saturday prior to the primary or general election until such
21 election day. Each polling place shall be open to the public for early
22 voting from 9 A.M. until 5 P.M. on any business day and from 9 A.M.
23 until 2 P.M. on any Saturday, Sunday, or holiday during such early
24 voting period; provided, however, that the county board of elections
25 may, in accordance with this section, establish additional temporary
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09975-01-5
A. 6334 2
1 polling places that are not open for the entirety of the early voting
2 period and such temporary polling places shall be open for early voting
3 during such hours and days as shall be designated by the board of
4 elections.
5 3. A registered voter may participate in early voting upon completion
6 and filing of an application therefor with the board of elections hold-
7 ing his or her voter registration.
8 4. Each county board of elections shall publish notice of the date,
9 time, locations and manner of such early voting practice for general,
10 primary and special elections in a newspaper of general circulation
11 thirty days prior to commencement of the first day of such early voting.
12 5. The early voting shall be monitored and administered by two duly
13 designated persons, one from each major political party, and such voting
14 shall follow and conform to all other procedures, measures and require-
15 ments of casting a vote in a primary or general election pursuant to
16 this chapter. All votes cast during the early voting period shall be
17 counted in the same manner as votes cast on the day of the primary or
18 general election to which such early voting period relates, as
19 prescribed by article nine of this chapter.
20 § 8-602. Application for early voting. 1. The board of elections shall
21 furnish one application for early voting to any voter who personally
22 appears and wishes to exercise this right. Upon completion of such
23 application, two duly designated employees of the board of elections,
24 one from each major political party represented, shall compare the
25 information of the voter with the signature on the voter's permanent
26 registration record, or other evidence of identification if computerized
27 duplicate registration records are used, and shall endorse on the appli-
28 cation that such review has been completed. The results or tabulation of
29 votes cast during an early voting period shall not be made before the
30 close of all polling places on the date of the primary or general
31 election. Ballots used in early voting shall be, as nearly as practica-
32 ble, the same form as those used on the date of the election.
33 2. The application for early voting shall require and include the
34 following identifying information:
35 (a) the date of the primary or general election,
36 (b) name of the board of elections,
37 (c) the name of the voter,
38 (d) residence of voter,
39 (e) number of the assembly district, if any,
40 (f) name of city or town, number of ward, if any, and
41 (g) election district and party enrollment. There shall be a place for
42 two signatures of persons designated to inspect, one from each major
43 political party, that such persons have checked and marked the voter's
44 registration and poll record. On the reverse side of such application
45 shall be printed the following statement:
46 I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, that I am duly
47 registered in the election district shown on the reverse side of this
48 application and I am qualified to vote in such district; that I do not
49 intend to vote elsewhere, that I have not committed any act nor am I
50 under any impediment which denies me the right to vote. I hereby declare
51 that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of my knowledge and
52 belief, and I understand that if I make any material false statement in
53 the foregoing statement, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
54 (Date)____________________
55 __________________________
56 (Signature and address of voter)_________________
A. 6334 3
1 _________________________________________________
2 (Witness)_________________
3 __________________________
4 § 8-604. State board of elections; powers and duties of. Any rule or
5 regulation necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this
6 title shall be promulgated by the state board of elections.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
8 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
