Bill Text: NY A09901 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the board of elections to provide email notifications to voters whenever they change the location of a polling place.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-26 - referred to election law [A09901 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-A09901-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          9901
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     April 26, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  SEPULVEDA  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Election Law
        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to email notification of a
          change in location of a polling place
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section  4-104 of the election law is
     2  amended to read as follows:
     3    2. If the board of elections, after designating a polling  place,  and
     4  after  sending  written  notice of such polling place to each registered
     5  voter, designates an alternative polling place, it must, at  least  five
     6  days  before the next election or day for registration, send by mail and
     7  email a written notice to each registered voter notifying him or her  of
     8  the changed location of such polling place. If such notice is not possi-
     9  ble  the  board  of  elections  must  provide for an alternative form of
    10  notice to be given to voters at the location  of  the  previous  polling
    11  place.
    12    §  2.  Paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 of section 4-104 of the election
    13  law, as amended by chapter 95 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as
    14  follows:
    15    (a) Whenever the number of voters eligible to vote in an  election  in
    16  any election district is less than one hundred, the polling place desig-
    17  nated  for  such district may be the polling place of any other district
    18  which could properly be designated as the polling  place  of  the  first
    19  mentioned  district  pursuant  to the provisions of this chapter, except
    20  that the polling place designated for any such district may be the poll-
    21  ing place of any other district in such city or town provided  that  the
    22  distance  from  such  first  mentioned district to the polling place for
    23  such other district is not unreasonable pursuant to rules or regulations
    24  prescribed by the state board of elections and provided that  the  total
    25  number  of  persons  eligible  to  vote  in  such other district in such
    26  election, including the persons eligible to vote in such first mentioned
    27  districts, is not more than five hundred. The inspectors of election and
    28  poll clerks, if any, of such other election district shall also  act  in
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03241-01-5
        A. 9901                             2
     1  all respects as the election officers for such first mentioned districts
     2  and no other inspectors shall be appointed to serve in or for such first
     3  mentioned districts. A separate poll ledger or computer generated regis-
     4  tration list, separate voting machine or ballots and separate canvass of
     5  results  shall  be  provided  for such first mentioned districts, except
     6  that if the candidates and ballot proposals to be voted on by the voters
     7  of such districts are the same, the election districts shall be combined
     8  and shall constitute a single election district for  that  election.  If
     9  the  polling  place for any election district is moved for any election,
    10  pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision, the board  of  elections
    11  shall,  not  later  than  ten  nor  more  than  fifteen days before such
    12  election, mail, by first class mail, to each voter eligible to  vote  in
    13  such  election  district  at  such  election, a notice setting forth the
    14  location of the polling place for such election and specifying that such
    15  location is for such election only, and email the same  notification  to
    16  any voter that has supplied the board with a valid email address.
    17    §  3.  Paragraph (k) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election
    18  law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (xiii) to read as follows:
    19    (xiii) A space for the applicant to provide an email address to  which
    20  official correspondence from the state board of elections may be sent.
    21    §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    22  have become a law.