Enacts the "voting rights notification and registration act"; allows for voting participation by eligible voters with felony convictions by providing notice regarding voting rights, assistance with voter registration and voting by absentee ballot, and data sharing among the department of correctional services, the division of parole, and the state board of elections.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1266--A
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 28, 2009
___________
Introduced by Sens. MONTGOMERY, DILAN, DUANE, HASSELL-THOMPSON, KRUEGER,
MONSERRATE, ONORATO, PARKER, SAMPSON, SAVINO, THOMPSON -- read twice
and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
on Elections -- reported favorably from said committee and committed
to the Committee on Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, the criminal procedure law, the
correction law and the executive law, in relation to enacting the
"voting rights notification and registration act"
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 "voting rights notification and registration act".
3 § 2. The opening paragraph and subdivisions 2, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13 and 14
4 of section 5-211 of the election law, the opening paragraph and subdivi-
5 sion 14 as amended by chapter 200 of the laws of 1996, subdivisions 2
6 and 8 as amended and subdivisions 4, 5, 12 and 13 as added by chapter
7 659 of the laws of 1994, are amended to read as follows:
8 Each agency designated as a participating agency under the provisions
9 of this section shall implement and administer a program of distribution
10 of voter registration forms pursuant to the provisions of this section.
11 The following offices which provide public assistance and/or provide
12 state funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons
13 with disabilities are hereby designated as voter registration agencies:
14 designated as the state agencies which provide public assistance are the
15 department of social services and the department of health. Also desig-
16 nated as public assistance agencies are all agencies of local government
17 that provide such assistance and local probation departments. Desig-
18 nated as state agencies that provide programs primarily engaged in
19 providing services to people with disabilities are the department of
20 labor, office for the aging, division of veterans' affairs, office of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01479-03-9
S. 1266--A 2
1 mental health, office of vocational and educational services for indi-
2 viduals with disabilities, commission on quality of care for the mental-
3 ly disabled, office of mental retardation and developmental disabili-
4 ties, commission for the blind and visually handicapped, office of
5 alcoholism and substance abuse services, the office of the advocate for
6 the disabled and all offices which administer programs established or
7 funded by such agencies. Additional state agencies designated as voter
8 registration offices are the department of state [and], the [division
9 of] workers' compensation board, the division of probation and correc-
10 tional alternatives when providing direct probation supervision services
11 under section two hundred forty-seven of the executive law. Such agen-
12 cies shall be required to offer voter registration forms to persons upon
13 initial application for services, renewal or recertification for
14 services [and], change of address relating to such services, and orien-
15 tation or initial intake for the division of probation and correctional
16 alternatives and local probation departments. Such agencies shall also
17 be responsible for providing assistance to [applicants] such persons in
18 completing voter registration forms, receiving and transmitting the
19 completed [application] registration form from all [applicants] persons
20 who wish to have such form transmitted to the appropriate board of
21 elections. The state board of elections shall, together with represen-
22 tatives of the department of defense, develop and implement procedures
23 for including recruitment offices of the armed forces of the United
24 States as voter registration offices when such offices are so designated
25 by federal law. The state board shall also make request of the United
26 States Immigration and Naturalization Service to include applications
27 for registration by mail with any materials which are given to new citi-
28 zens. All institutions of the state university of New York and the city
29 university of New York, shall, at the beginning of the school year, and
30 again in January of a year in which the president of the United States
31 is to be elected, provide an application for registration to each
32 student in each such institution. The state board of elections may, by
33 regulation, grant a waiver from any or all of the requirements of this
34 section to any office or program of an agency, if it determines that it
35 is not feasible for such office or program to administer such require-
36 ment.
37 2. Strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment shall
38 be maintained and all persons seeking voter registration forms and
39 information shall be advised that government services are not condi-
40 tioned on being registered to vote. No statement shall be made nor any
41 action taken to discourage the [applicant] person from registering to
42 vote.
43 4. Each participating agency shall provide to each [applicant] person
44 who does not decline to register to vote the same degree of assistance
45 with regard to the completion of the voter registration [application]
46 form as is provided by the agency with regard to the completion of its
47 own form unless the [applicant] person refuses such assistance.
48 5. Employees of a voter registration agency who provide voter regis-
49 tration assistance shall not:
50 (a) seek to influence [an applicant's] a person's political preference
51 or party designation;
52 (b) display any political preference or party allegiance;
53 (c) make any statement [to an applicant] or take any action the
54 purpose or effect of which is to discourage [the applicant] a person
55 from registering to vote; or
S. 1266--A 3
1 (d) make any statement [to an applicant] or take any action the
2 purpose or effect of which is to lead [the applicant] a person to
3 believe that a decision to register or not to register has any bearing
4 on the availability of services or benefits.
5 8. Each participating agency, department, division or office that
6 makes available voter registration forms pursuant to this section shall
7 offer with each application for the services or assistance of such agen-
8 cy, department, division or office, or, in the case of the local
9 probation departments and the division of probation and correctional
10 alternatives, upon orientation or initial intake, and with each recer-
11 tification, renewal or change of address form relating to such service
12 or assistance, a voter registration form together with instructions
13 relating to eligibility to register and for completing the form except
14 that forms used by the department of social services for the initial
15 application for services, renewal or recertification for services and
16 change of address relating to such services shall physically incorporate
17 a voter registration [application] form in a fashion that permits the
18 voter registration portion of the agency form to be detached therefrom.
19 Such voter registration [application] form shall be designed so as to
20 ensure the confidentiality of the source of the application. Included
21 on each participating agency's application for services or assistance or
22 on a separate form shall be:
23 (a) the question, "If you are not registered to vote where you live
24 now, would you like to apply to register here today?"
25 (b) [The] the statement, "applying to register or declining to regis-
26 ter to vote will not affect the amount of assistance that you will be
27 provided by this agency."
28 (c) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the applicant
29 would like to register or decline to register to vote.
30 (d) the statement in prominent type, "IF YOU DO NOT CHECK EITHER BOX,
31 YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED TO HAVE DECIDED NOT TO REGISTER TO VOTE AT THIS
32 TIME."
33 (e) the statement, "If you would like help in filling out the voter
34 registration [application] form, we will help you. The decision whether
35 to seek or accept help is yours. You may fill out the [application]
36 voter registration form in private."
37 (f) the statement, "If you believe that someone has interfered with
38 your right to register or decline to register to vote, your right to
39 privacy in deciding whether to register or in applying to register to
40 vote, or your right to choose your own political party or other poli-
41 tical preference, you may file a complaint with the state board of
42 elections (address and toll free telephone number)."
43 (g) a toll free number at the state board of elections that can be
44 called for answers to registration questions.
45 12. Completed [application] voter registration forms, when received by
46 a participating agency not later than the twenty-fifth day before the
47 next ensuing primary, general or special election and transmitted by
48 such agency to the appropriate board of elections so that they are
49 received by such board not later than the twentieth day before such
50 election shall entitle the [applicant] person to vote in such election
51 provided the board determines that the [applicant] person is otherwise
52 qualified.
53 13. The state board of elections shall provide [application] voter
54 registration forms for use pursuant to this section except that any
55 agency which uses a form other than such registration form shall be
56 responsible for providing such form. Forms which vary in design [and or]
S. 1266--A 4
1 and/or content from the form approved by the state board of elections
2 may only be used with the approval of such board.
3 14. [Applications] Voter registration forms shall be processed by the
4 board of elections in the manner prescribed by section 5-210 of this
5 title or, if the [applicant] person is already registered to vote from
6 another address in the county or city, in the manner prescribed by
7 section 5-208 of this title. The board shall send the appropriate
8 notice of approval or rejection as required by either subdivision nine
9 of such section 5-210 or subdivision five of such section 5-208.
10 § 3. Section 220.50 of the criminal procedure law is amended by
11 adding a new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
12 8. Prior to accepting a defendant's plea of guilty to a count or
13 counts of an indictment or a superior court information charging a felo-
14 ny offense for which the court will impose a sentence of imprisonment,
15 the court must advise the defendant on the record that the conviction
16 will result in loss of the right to vote until the individual has served
17 his maximum sentence of imprisonment or been discharged from parole; and
18 that the defendant may register or re-register to vote as soon as he has
19 served his maximum sentence of imprisonment or been discharged from
20 parole. The failure to advise the defendant pursuant to this subdivi-
21 sion shall not be deemed to affect the voluntariness of a plea of guilty
22 or the validity of a conviction.
23 § 4. The criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new section
24 380.51 to read as follows:
25 § 380.51 Statements regarding voting rights.
26 Before imposing a sentence of imprisonment for a felony conviction,
27 the court must advise the defendant on the record that the conviction
28 will result in the loss of the right to vote until the individual has
29 served his maximum sentence of imprisonment or been discharged from
30 parole; and that the defendant may register or re-register to vote as
31 soon as he has served his maximum sentence of imprisonment or been
32 discharged from parole. The failure to advise the defendant pursuant to
33 this section shall not be deemed to affect the voluntariness of a plea
34 of guilty or the validity of a conviction.
35 § 5. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 510 to read
36 as follows:
37 § 510. Voting by qualified inmates. 1. At the time of the initial
38 orientation or intake of an inmate at a local correctional facility, the
39 chief administrative officer of such local correctional facility, or his
40 or her designee, shall inform the inmate in writing of his or her right
41 to apply to register to vote. In addition, such notice shall be posted
42 in a place conspicuous to all inmates. Such posted notice shall include
43 qualifications required to exercise the right to vote, and the avail-
44 ability at the correctional facility of assistance to apply to register
45 to vote and to request an absentee ballot application. Such chief
46 administrative officer, or his or her designee, shall assist inmates in
47 applying to register to vote in the same manner and to the same extent
48 as the agencies listed in section 5-211 of the election law.
49 2. On an annual basis, thirty days before each primary and general
50 election, the chief administrative officer, or his or her designee,
51 shall provide each inmate with written information about qualifications
52 and procedures for voting by absentee ballot and shall make absentee
53 ballot applications available to all inmates.
54 In the event that an inmate of a local correctional facility is tempo-
55 rarily absent from such facility for the purpose of receiving medical
S. 1266--A 5
1 care at a local health care facility, the information required under
2 this section shall be mailed to such inmate.
3 § 6. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 75 to read
4 as follows:
5 § 75. Voting rights upon completion of sentence. 1. Upon the discharge
6 from a correctional facility of any person who has reached his or her
7 maximum sentence of imprisonment for the conviction of a felony, the
8 department, and, subject to their agreement, federal correctional insti-
9 tutions in New York, shall notify such person of his or her right to
10 vote, provide such person with a form of application for voter registra-
11 tion together with written information distributed by the board of
12 elections on the importance and the mechanics of voting and shall assist
13 such person in registering to vote in the same manner and to the same
14 extent as the agencies listed in section 5-211 of the election law.
15 2. The department and, subject to their agreement, federal correction-
16 al institutions in New York, shall, on or before the fifteenth day of
17 each month, transmit to the state board of elections a list containing
18 the following information about persons age eighteen or older who,
19 during the preceding period, have become eligible to vote because of
20 their discharge from imprisonment: (a) name; (b) date of birth; (c) last
21 known address with county of residence; and (d) driver's license number
22 (if known) or last four digits of social security number (if known).
23 § 7. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 259-jj to
24 read as follows:
25 § 259-jj. Voting rights upon discharge. 1. Upon discharge of a person
26 from presumptive release, parole, or conditional release, or upon the
27 expiration of a person's maximum sentence of imprisonment while under
28 the supervision of the division of parole, the division of parole shall
29 notify such person of his or her right to vote, provide such person with
30 a form of application for voter registration together with written
31 information distributed by the board of elections on the importance and
32 the mechanics of voting and shall assist such person in registering to
33 vote in the same manner and to the same extent as the agencies listed in
34 section 5-211 of the election law.
35 2. The division of parole shall, on or before the fifteenth day of
36 each month, transmit to the state board of elections a list containing
37 the following information about persons age eighteen or older who,
38 during the preceding period, have become eligible to vote because of
39 their discharge from presumptive release, parole or conditional release,
40 or upon the expiration of their maximum sentence of imprisonment while
41 under the supervision of the division of parole: (a) name; (b) date of
42 birth; (c) last known address with county of residence; and (d) driver's
43 license number (if known) or last four digits of social security number
44 (if known).
45 § 8. Section 5-614 of the election law is amended by adding three new
46 subdivisions 6-a, 6-b and 6-c to read as follows:
47 6-a. Once every month, and within five days of receipt, the state
48 board of elections shall obtain and transmit to local boards of
49 elections the information provided by the department of correctional
50 services pursuant to subdivision two of section seventy-five of the
51 correction law, and by the division of parole pursuant to subdivision
52 two of section two hundred fifty-nine-jj of the executive law.
53 6-b. Each local board of elections shall use such list, within ten
54 days after receipt, to ensure that there are no remaining barriers to
55 registration, including the use of electronic codes or other forms of
S. 1266--A 6
1 eligibility demarcation, resulting from past convictions of the people
2 so listed.
3 6-c. Any voter registration application that was rejected after the
4 effective date of this subdivision and prior to the local board's
5 receipt and processing of the information described in subdivisions
6 six-a and six-b of this section shall be reviewed upon receipt and proc-
7 essing of such information. Any applicant that is found to be eligible,
8 shall be approved and the voter shall be registered and so notified.
9 § 9. The election law is amended by adding a new section 3-102-a to
10 read as follows:
11 § 3-102-a. State board of elections; duties under the voting rights
12 notification and registration act. 1. The state board of elections
13 shall develop and implement a program to educate attorneys; judges;
14 employees of the state and local boards of elections; employees of the
15 department of correctional services, the division of parole, the depart-
16 ment of probation and correctional alternatives, and local probation
17 departments and members of the public about the requirements of the
18 voting rights notification and registration act, ensuring that:
19 (a) judges are informed of their obligation to notify criminal defend-
20 ants of the potential loss and restoration of their voting rights, in
21 accordance with subdivision eight of section 220.50 and section 380.51
22 of the criminal procedure law;
23 (b) the department of correctional services and, subject to their
24 agreement, federal correctional institutions in New York, are prepared
25 to assist people to register to vote in anticipation of their discharge
26 from imprisonment, including by forwarding their completed voter regis-
27 tration forms to the local election boards;
28 (c) the department of correctional services and, subject to their
29 agreement, federal correctional institutions in New York, and the divi-
30 sion of parole, are prepared to transmit to the state board of elections
31 the information specified in subdivision two of section seventy-five of
32 the correction law and subdivision two of section two hundred fifty-
33 nine-jj of the executive law;
34 (d) local correctional facilities are prepared to assist people to
35 register to vote;
36 (e) probation and parole officers are informed of the changes in the
37 law and are prepared to notify probationers and parolees of their voting
38 rights;
39 (f) the language on voter registration forms makes clear that people
40 are disqualified from voting only while they are serving a sentence of
41 imprisonment or are on parole for a felony conviction and that they
42 automatically regain the right to register or re-register to vote upon
43 completion of their maximum sentence of imprisonment or discharge from
44 parole;
45 (g) all local boards of elections are prepared to restore names to the
46 computerized statewide voter registration list in accordance with
47 section 5-614 of the election law; and
48 (h) accurate and complete information about the voting rights of
49 people who have been charged with or convicted of crimes is made avail-
50 able through a single publication to government officials and the
51 public.
52 2. The state board of elections shall amend or promulgate pertinent
53 rules and regulations as necessary to implement this section.
54 § 10. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
55 have become a law.