Bill Text: NY A04062 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires state and county boards of elections to post sample ballots online at least twelve days prior to the first day of early voting; requires such ballots to be posted in a searchable database.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-3)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-30 - ordered to third reading rules cal.236 [A04062 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A04062-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         4062--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 9, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. SILLITTI, McDONALD, EPSTEIN, DINOWITZ, MAGNAREL-
          LI, JACOBSON, KELLES, BENDETT, DeSTEFANO, RAGA, SIMONE, WALKER, SIMON,
          NOVAKHOV, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, SHIMSKY, THIELE,  AUBRY,  LUNSFORD,  ARDILA,
          GLICK  --  read  once and referred to the Committee on Election Law --
          recommitted to the Committee on Election Law in accordance with Assem-
          bly Rule 3, sec. 2 --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the election law, in relation to requiring state and
          county boards of elections to post sample ballots

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.    Subdivision  3 of section 7-118 of the election law, as
     2  separately amended by chapters 410 and 411  of  the  laws  of  2019,  is
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    3.  Sample  ballots  may  be  mailed by the board of elections to each
     5  eligible voter at least three days before  the  [election,  or  in  lieu
     6  thereof,  a  copy  of  such sample ballot may be published at least once
     7  within one week preceding the election in newspapers  or  on  a  website
     8  maintained  by  the board of elections] first day of early voting.  Each
     9  county board of elections shall transmit electronically in a  format  to
    10  be  determined  by  the  state board of elections, as it is available, a
    11  copy [of the candidate and contest information contained on each of  its
    12  ballot styles] of a sample ballot for all election districts within that
    13  county  to the state board of elections. [The state board shall create a
    14  system to allow such information to be made publicly available  via  its
    15  website, as well as the website of any county board of elections, and in
    16  such a way as to be accessible with a computer screen-reading program.]
    17    §  2.  Section  7-118 of the election law is amended by adding two new
    18  subdivisions 3-a and 3-b to read as follows:
    19    3-a. The board of elections  shall  post  a  sample  ballot  for  each
    20  election  district  in  the state on the board's website at least twelve

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03384-06-4
        A. 4062--A                          2

     1  days prior to the first day of early voting. The board shall  post  such
     2  sample  ballots  in  a searchable database which allows voters to obtain
     3  polling site information, voter district information and a sample ballot
     4  that  such  voter shall be eligible to cast at the next election. Sample
     5  ballots shall have an imbedded security tool to  prevent  tampering  and
     6  printing of such sample ballots.
     7    3-b.  Each county board of elections may post a sample ballot for each
     8  election district within that county at least twelve days prior  to  the
     9  first day of early voting. A county board that posts such sample ballots
    10  shall  do so in a searchable database that allows voters to obtain poll-
    11  ing site information and a sample ballot that such voter shall be eligi-
    12  ble to cast in the next election. Such  sample  ballots  shall  have  an
    13  imbedded security tool to prevent tampering and printing of such ballot.
    14  Such  county  board  of  elections  may also refer to the state board of
    15  elections' website for such information  to  be  delivered  pursuant  to
    16  subdivision three-a of this section.
    17    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    18  have become a law.