STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5965--A
Cal. No. 1225
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and
Correction -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first
and second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered
reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to providing notice of
voting rights to persons released from local jails
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 510 of the correction law, as added by chapter 103
2 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 510. Voting upon release. 1. Prior to the release from a local
4 correctional facility of any person convicted of a felony the chief
5 administrative officer shall notify such person verbally and in writing
6 that his or her voting rights will be restored upon release and provide
7 such person with a form of application for voter registration and a
8 declination form, offer such person assistance in filling out the appro-
9 priate form, and provide such person written information distributed by
10 the board of elections on the importance and the mechanics of voting.
11 Upon release, such person may choose to either submit his or her
12 completed application to the state board or county board where such
13 person resides or have the department transmit it on his or her behalf.
14 Where such person chooses to have the department transmit the applica-
15 tion, the chief administrative officer shall transmit the completed
16 application upon such person's release to the state board or county
17 board where such person resides.
18 2. Upon discharge or release from the custody of a local correctional
19 facility, the chief administrative officer of such facility shall, in
20 consultation with the county board of elections, distribute to every
21 person eighteen years of age or older a written notice on the voting
22 rights of such person in the state of New York, including information on
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02488-06-3
S. 5965--A 2
1 the importance and mechanics of voting, when such person is or may
2 become eligible to vote, and offer to every such person a voter regis-
3 tration form; provided that, if an individual declines to accept a voter
4 registration form, the chief administrative officer shall maintain a
5 written record of such declination. Notice is not required for those
6 individuals being transferred to a different local correctional facili-
7 ty, individuals being transferred or released to the custody of a state
8 correctional facility or institution, or individuals being released to
9 the custody of a hospital or mental health institution for treatment.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
11 it shall have become a law.
