STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6653
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- 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 prohibiting the deliv-
ery of an absentee ballot or an application therefore to an address
associated with a candidate's campaign
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 8-400 of the
2 election law, as separately amended by chapters 273 and 746 of the laws
3 of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
4 (d) The board of elections shall mail an absentee ballot to every
5 qualified voter otherwise eligible for such a ballot, who requests such
6 an absentee ballot from such board of elections in writing in a letter,
7 telefax indicating the address, phone number and the telefax number from
8 which the writing is sent or other written instrument, or an electronic
9 application submitted by the voter through the electronic absentee
10 ballot application transmittal system established by the state board of
11 elections, which is signed by the voter and received by the board of
12 elections not later than the fifteenth day before the election for which
13 the ballot is first requested and which states the address where the
14 voter is registered and the address to which the ballot is to be mailed;
15 provided, however, a military voter may request a military ballot or
16 voter registration application or an absentee ballot application in a
17 letter as provided in subdivision three of section 10-106 of this chap-
18 ter; [and] provided further, a special federal voter may request a
19 special federal ballot or voter registration application or an absentee
20 ballot application in a letter as provided in paragraph d of subdivision
21 one of section 11-202 of this chapter; and provided further, no ballot
22 application shall be mailed to an address associated with a candidate's
23 campaign. The board of elections shall enclose with such ballot a form
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10839-01-3
S. 6653 2
1 of application for absentee ballot if the applicant is registered with
2 such board of elections.
3 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 8-406 of the election law, as amended by
4 section 2 of part HH of chapter 55 of the laws of 2022, is amended to
5 read as follows:
6 1. If the board shall find that the applicant is a qualified voter of
7 the election district containing his or her residence as stated in his
8 or her statement and that his or her statement is sufficient, it shall,
9 as soon as practicable after it shall have determined his or her right
10 thereto, mail to him or her at an address designated by him or her, or
11 deliver to him or her, or to any person designated for such purpose in
12 writing by him or her, at the office of the board, such an absentee
13 voter's ballot or set of ballots and an envelope therefor. If the ballot
14 or ballots are to be sent outside of the United States to a country
15 other than Canada or Mexico, such ballot or ballots shall be sent by air
16 mail. However, if an applicant who is eligible for an absentee ballot
17 is a resident of a facility operated or licensed by, or under the juris-
18 diction of, the department of mental hygiene, or a resident of a facili-
19 ty defined as a nursing home or residential health care facility pursu-
20 ant to subdivisions two and three of section two thousand eight hundred
21 one of the public health law, or a resident of a hospital or other
22 facility operated by the Veteran's Administration of the United States,
23 such absentee ballot need not be so mailed or delivered to any such
24 applicant but, may be delivered to the voter in the manner prescribed by
25 section 8-407 of this [chapter] title if such facility is located in the
26 county or city in which such voter is eligible to vote. No absentee
27 voter's ballot shall be mailed to an address associated with a candi-
28 date's campaign.
29 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
