Makes the following participating agencies for purposes of agency assisted voter registration: public libraries, local housing authorities, and public high schools; directs the state board of elections to promulgate rules and regulations for implementation.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10841
IN ASSEMBLY
May 23, 2018
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC, COLTON, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, M. G. MILLER --
read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to designating additional
participating agencies for purposes of agency assisted voter registra-
tion
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of section 5-211 of the election law,
2 as amended by chapter 265 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 Each agency designated as a participating agency under the provisions
5 of this section shall implement and administer a program of distribution
6 of voter registration forms pursuant to the provisions of this section.
7 The following offices which provide public assistance and/or provide
8 state funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons
9 with disabilities are hereby designated as voter registration agencies:
10 designated as the state agencies which provide public assistance are the
11 office of children and family services, the office of temporary and
12 disability assistance and the department of health. Also designated as
13 public assistance agencies are all agencies of local government that
14 provide such assistance. Designated as state agencies that provide
15 programs primarily engaged in providing services to people with disabil-
16 ities are the department of labor, office for the aging, division of
17 veterans' affairs, office of mental health, office of vocational and
18 educational services for individuals with disabilities, commission on
19 quality of care for the mentally disabled, office [of mental retardation
20 and] for people with developmental disabilities, commission for the
21 blind, office of alcoholism and substance abuse services, the office of
22 the advocate for the disabled and all offices which administer programs
23 established or funded by such agencies. Additional state agencies desig-
24 nated as voter registration offices are the department of state and the
25 division of workers' compensation. Such agencies shall be required to
26 offer voter registration forms to persons upon initial application for
27 services, renewal or recertification for services and change of address
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02827-01-7
A. 10841 2
1 relating to such services. Such agencies shall also be responsible for
2 providing assistance to applicants in completing voter registration
3 forms, receiving and transmitting the completed application form from
4 all applicants who wish to have such form transmitted to the appropriate
5 board of elections. The state board of elections shall, together with
6 representatives of the department of defense, develop and implement
7 procedures for including recruitment offices of the armed forces of the
8 United States as voter registration offices when such offices are so
9 designated by federal law. The state board shall also make request of
10 the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service to include
11 applications for registration by mail with any materials which are given
12 to new citizens. All institutions of the state university of New York
13 and the city university of New York, shall, at the beginning of the
14 school year, and again in January of a year in which the president of
15 the United States is to be elected, provide an application for registra-
16 tion to each student in each such institution. The state board of
17 elections may, by regulation, grant a waiver from any or all of the
18 requirements of this section to any office or program of an agency, if
19 it determines that it is not feasible for such office or program to
20 administer such requirement. Also designated as participating agencies
21 are all public libraries, which shall be required to offer voter regis-
22 tration forms to persons eighteen years of age or older upon initial
23 application for a library card. Also designated as participating agen-
24 cies are all local housing authorities, which shall be required to offer
25 voter registration forms to persons upon initial application for
26 services or recertification for services. Also designated as participat-
27 ing agencies are all public high schools, which shall be required to
28 offer voter registration forms to all seniors upon their graduation.
29 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
30 it shall have become a law; provided that the state board of elections
31 is authorized to promulgate any rules necessary to implement this act on
32 or before its effective date.
