STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2161
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 20, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to designating certain
university and community college campuses as polling places for early
voting
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of
2 the election law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, are amended
3 and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as follows:
4 (a) [The] Subject to paragraph (e) of this subdivision, the board of
5 elections shall designate polling places for early voting, which may
6 include the offices of the board of elections, for persons to vote early
7 pursuant to this title. There shall be so designated at least one early
8 voting polling place for every full increment of fifty thousand regis-
9 tered voters in each county; provided, however, the number of early
10 voting polling places in a county shall not be required to be greater
11 than seven, and a county with fewer than fifty thousand voters shall
12 have at least one early voting polling place.
13 (d) [Polling] Subject to paragraph (e) of this subdivision, polling
14 places for early voting shall be located so that voters in the county
15 have adequate and equitable access, taking into consideration population
16 density, travel time to the polling place, proximity to other early
17 voting poll sites, public transportation routes, commuter traffic
18 patterns and such other factors the board of elections deems appropri-
19 ate. The provisions of section 4-104 of this chapter, except subdivi-
20 sions four and five of such section, shall apply to the designation of
21 polling places for early voting except to the extent such provisions are
22 inconsistent with this section.
23 (e)(i) Notwithstanding the board of elections' discretion to designate
24 polling places for early voting as set forth in this subdivision, for
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04719-01-1
S. 2161 2
1 any county required to have more than one polling place for early voting
2 as set forth in this subdivision, the board of elections shall designate
3 at least one state university of New York university or community
4 college campus located in that county with enrollment of at least two
5 thousand five hundred undergraduate students as a polling place for the
6 early voting period. The board of elections shall make available to that
7 county additional discretionary funding for the administration of early
8 voting if that county designates more than one state university of New
9 York university or community college campus located in that county as an
10 additional polling place for early voting for at least three consecutive
11 weekdays during the early voting period.
12 (ii) For any county that is not required to have more than one polling
13 place for early voting as set forth in this subdivision, the board of
14 elections shall make available to that county additional discretionary
15 funding for the administration of early voting if that county designates
16 any state university of New York university or community college campus
17 located in that county as an additional polling place for early voting
18 for at least three consecutive weekdays during the early voting period.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.