Requires that a primary will not be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in September; any written communication to voters by mail shall contain a conspicuous notice in all capital letters and bold font notifying the voter of the primary date change; moves the date of the 2018 fall primary to Thursday, September 13.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7597
IN SENATE
January 29, 2018
___________
Introduced by Sen. FELDER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to communications to
voters by mail; to require the 2018 fall primary be held on Thursday,
September 13, 2018 and the political calendar be adjusted accordingly;
and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration
thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivi-
2 sion 1 of section 8-100 of the election law, the 2018 fall primary shall
3 be held on Thursday, September 13, 2018, and the political calendar
4 shall be adjusted accordingly.
5 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 4-117 of the election law, as amended by
6 chapter 44 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
7 1. The board of elections, between August first and August fifth of
8 each year, shall send by mail on which is endorsed such language desig-
9 nated by the state board of elections to ensure postal authorities do
10 not forward such mail but return it to the board of elections with
11 forwarding information, when it cannot be delivered as addressed and
12 which contains a request that any such mail received for persons not
13 residing at the address be dropped back in the mail, a communication, in
14 a form approved by the state board of elections, to every registered
15 voter who has been registered without a change of address since the
16 beginning of such year, except that the board of elections shall not be
17 required to send such communications to voters in inactive status. The
18 communication shall notify the voter of the days and hours of the ensu-
19 ing primary and general elections, the place where he appears by his
20 registration records to be entitled to vote, the fact that voters who
21 have moved or will have moved from the address where they were last
22 registered must re-register or, that if such move was to another address
23 in the same county or city, that such voter may either notify the board
24 of elections of his new address or vote by paper ballot at the polling
25 place for his new address even if such voter has not re-registered, or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14137-03-8
S. 7597 2
1 otherwise notified the board of elections of the change of address. If
2 the primary will not be held on the first Tuesday after the second
3 Monday in September, the communication shall contain a conspicuous
4 notice in all capital letters and bold font notifying the voter of the
5 primary date. If the location of the polling place for the voter's
6 election district has been moved, the communication shall contain the
7 following legend in bold type: "YOUR POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN CHANGED. YOU
8 NOW VOTE AT..........". The communication shall also indicate whether
9 the polling place is accessible to physically disabled voters, that a
10 voter who will be out of the city or county on the day of the primary or
11 general election or a voter who is ill or physically disabled may obtain
12 an absentee ballot, that a physically disabled voter whose polling place
13 is not accessible may request that his registration record be moved to
14 an election district which has a polling place which is accessible, the
15 phone number to call for applications to move a registration record or
16 for absentee ballot applications, the phone number to call for the
17 location of registration and polling places, the phone number to call to
18 indicate that the voter is willing to serve on election day as an
19 election inspector, poll clerk, interpreter or in other capacities, the
20 phone number to call to obtain an application for registration by mail,
21 and such other information concerning the elections or registration as
22 the board may include. In lieu of sending such communication to every
23 registered voter, the board of elections may send a single communication
24 to a household containing more than one registered voter, provided that
25 the names of all such voters appear as part of the address on such
26 communication.
27 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
28 section one of this act shall expire on December 31, 2018 when upon such
29 date the provisions of such section shall be deemed repealed.
