STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2399
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 13, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, HOYLMAN, LATIMER, PERKINS -- 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 automatic voter regis-
tration
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 14 and 15 of section 5-212 of the election
2 law, as added by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. In addition to any other method of voter registration provided for
5 in this article, any qualified person may apply for registration and
6 enrollment either by application made simultaneously and integrated with
7 an application for a motor vehicle driver's license, a driver's license
8 renewal or an identification card if such a card is issued by the
9 department of motor vehicles in its normal course of business or by the
10 department of motor vehicles providing the appropriate board of
11 elections with electronic records of each person who qualifies to vote,
12 pursuant to subdivision twelve-a of this section.
13 14. The state board shall develop and distribute public information
14 and promotional materials relating to the purposes and implementation of
15 [this program] these programs.
16 15. The state board shall prepare and distribute to the department of
17 motor vehicles written instructions as to the implementation of [the
18 program] these programs and shall be responsible for establishing train-
19 ing programs for employees of the department of motor vehicles involved
20 in such [program] programs.
21 § 2. Section 5-212 of the election law is amended by adding a new
22 subdivision 12-a to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00219-01-7
S. 2399 2
1 12-a. In addition to completing an application for registration and
2 enrollment by application, a person may also be registered to vote in
3 the following manner:
4 (a) The department of motor vehicles shall establish a schedule by
5 which it provides to the state board of elections electronic records
6 containing the legal name, age, residence and citizenship information
7 for, and the electronic signature of, each person who is qualified to
8 vote under section 5-102 of this article.
9 (b) Upon receiving the electronic record for, and electronic signature
10 of, a person described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the state
11 board of elections shall provide the information to the appropriate
12 county board of elections in which the person may be registered as a
13 voter. The appropriate county board of elections shall send each person
14 a notification directing him or her to:
15 (i) decline being registered as a voter; or
16 (ii) adopt a political party affiliation.
17 (c) If a person notified under paragraph (b) of this subdivision does
18 not decline to be registered as a voter within twenty-one calendar days
19 after the county board of elections issues the notification, the
20 person's electronic record and electronic signature submitted under
21 paragraph (a) of this subdivision will constitute a completed registra-
22 tion application for the person for purposes of this section. The
23 person shall be registered to vote if the county board of elections
24 determines that the person is qualified to vote pursuant to section
25 5-102 of this article, and the person is not already registered to vote.
26 (d) A county board of elections may not send a ballot to, or add to a
27 voter registration list, a person who meets eligibility requirements
28 until at least twenty-one calendar days after the county board of
29 elections provided notification to the person as described in paragraph
30 (b) of this subdivision.
31 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
32 have become a law.
