STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5073--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 8, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sens. MAYER, COMRIE, GOUNARDES, HOYLMAN, LIU, MAY, MONT-
GOMERY, RAMOS, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a school
voter registration access program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new article 25 to
2 read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 25
4 SCHOOL VOTER REGISTRATION ACCESS
5 Section 1301. School voter registration access.
6 § 1301. School voter registration access. Each school district, board
7 of cooperative educational services, charter school, and non-public
8 school shall adopt a policy to promote student voter registration and
9 pre-registration pursuant to chapter two of the laws of two thousand
10 nineteen. Such policy shall, in accordance with the provisions of this
11 article, require all schools operated by such school districts, boards
12 of cooperative educational services, charter schools, and non-public
13 schools serving any or all of grades ten, eleven, and twelve to make
14 available access to voter registration and pre-registration applications
15 during the school year for the purposes of educating students about the
16 voting enrollment process and providing eligible students with the
17 opportunity to register or pre-register to vote as applicable. Such
18 policy shall include procedures for acquiring and transmitting voter
19 registration and pre-registration applications to and from the local
20 board of elections and dissemination among their appropriate schools,
21 methods of regular communication with eligible students on the avail-
22 ability of such applications and their right to register or pre-register
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09318-11-9
S. 5073--A 2
1 to vote and may include collaboration with local boards of elections and
2 outside organizations to assist in making available voter registration
3 and pre-registration applications in any school serving any or all of
4 grades ten, eleven, and twelve. Completion and submission of voter
5 registration or pre-registration forms shall not be a course requirement
6 or graded assignment for students. Local boards of elections shall
7 comply with requests from school districts, boards of cooperative educa-
8 tional services, charter schools, and non-public schools to transmit the
9 requested number of registration and pre-registration applications in
10 such manner as requested.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020. Effective immediately
12 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
13 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
14 authorized to be made on or before such date.