Bill Text: NY S05193 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Establishes a nonpartisan poll monitoring program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-14 - PRINT NUMBER 5193B [S05193 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S05193-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5193--B 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 27, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SKOUFIS, BAILEY, BROUK, COMRIE, COONEY, JACKSON, MAY, MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections -- recommitted to the Commit- tee on Elections in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to establishing nonparti- san poll monitors The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new section 8-501 2 to read as follows: 3 § 8-501. Nonpartisan poll monitor. 1. For the purposes of this 4 section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (a) "Civic organization" shall mean any corporation, unincorporated 6 association, or organization that: 7 (i) consists of citizens interested in providing voter information and 8 education, the protection of individual voters' rights, and the 9 promotion of free and equal election; 10 (ii) as part of its written articles of incorporation, bylaws, or 11 charter or by separate written declaration, has among its stated 12 purposes the provision of voter information and education, the 13 protection of individual voters' rights, and the promotion of free, 14 fair, accessible and secure elections; 15 (iii) is organized or primarily conducts its activities within the 16 state of New York; and 17 (iv) continuously maintains an office or business location within the 18 state of New York, together with a current listed telephone number for 19 no less than one year prior to filing the statement specified in subdi- 20 vision four of this section. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05232-13-4S. 5193--B 2 1 (b) "Ballot issue committee" shall mean a political committee formed 2 to promote the success or defeat of any ballot proposal. 3 2. In addition to the watchers appointed pursuant to section 8-500 of 4 this title, nonpartisan poll monitors may be appointed by a civic organ- 5 ization or a ballot issue committee. 6 3. Each civic organization and each ballot issue committee shall be 7 entitled to appoint no more than two nonpartisan poll monitors per poll- 8 ing place. 9 4. Not less than thirty-two days and not more than forty-five days 10 before the first election for which the organization or committee plans 11 to appoint nonpartisan poll monitors, the state board of elections shall 12 receive a statement from any organization or ballot issue committee 13 desiring to appoint nonpartisan poll monitors setting forth the inten- 14 tion of the organization or committee to appoint nonpartisan poll moni- 15 tors. 16 (a) The statement shall be signed and sworn to by the chief presiding 17 officer, the secretary, or some other officer of the organization or 18 committee and shall set forth: 19 (i) the reason why the organization or committee claims the right to 20 appoint nonpartisan poll monitors; 21 (ii) the names and addresses of its principal officers; 22 (iii) a statement specifying the civic organization or ballot issue 23 committee's office address, phone number and an email to which all 24 future communications shall be addressed; and 25 (iv) verification of length of time it has maintained an office and 26 phone in New York, if a civic organization or, if a ballot issue commit- 27 tee, verifying that it has satisfied its filing obligations under 28 section 14-118 of this chapter. 29 (b) Such statement shall also be accompanied by: 30 (i) a copy of the instructional materials the organization or commit- 31 tee will use to train poll monitors regarding voters' rights, as well as 32 basic election day and voting procedures under the election law; 33 (ii) a copy of the volunteer pledge which the organization or commit- 34 tee requires its poll monitors to sign after receiving the training, 35 which explains what it means to be a nonpartisan poll monitor, acknowl- 36 edges the obligation to strictly maintain nonpartisan status while serv- 37 ing as a poll monitor for the appointing organization or committee, and 38 agrees to abide by the restrictions set forth in subdivision ten of this 39 section; 40 (iii) a written commitment to train its volunteer poll monitors in 41 accordance with the provided instructional materials and retain a signed 42 copy of each assigned poll monitor's volunteer pledge, executed pursuant 43 to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, prior to assigning that poll 44 monitor to a polling place, signed under penalty of perjury by a princi- 45 pal officer; and 46 (iv) a statement whether the requested approval is for the next imme- 47 diate election or for all elections occurring in the current calendar 48 year subsequent to the date of application. 49 (c) The state board of elections may deny an organization or committee 50 the authorization to appoint nonpartisan poll monitors if that organiza- 51 tion or committee fails to furnish evidence satisfactory to the state 52 board of elections that the organization or committee is devoted to the 53 purposes enumerated or has maintained an office and a publicized phone 54 number in New York state for no less than one year, for failure of the 55 required instructional materials to adequately outline basic voters' 56 rights and relevant administrative provisions of the election law, orS. 5193--B 3 1 for failing to provide a volunteer pledge form that satisfies the 2 requirements of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (b) of this subdivision. 3 5. Not later than two business days after receipt of a statement of 4 intent to appoint nonpartisan poll monitors under subdivision four of 5 this section but in no event later than the twenty-eighth day before the 6 upcoming election, the executive directors of the state board of 7 elections shall approve or deny the organization's or committee's 8 authorization to appoint nonpartisan poll monitors and notify the organ- 9 ization or committee of that approval or denial via email and overnight 10 delivery, which shall be deemed to have been received by the day after 11 transmission. Authorization shall only be denied on the basis that the 12 applying organization or committee fails to satisfy the requirements of 13 paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision four of this section. If authori- 14 zation is denied under this subdivision, an organization or committee 15 may appeal the denial with the commissioners of the state board of 16 elections by email or overnight delivery. The appeal of the denial must 17 be received by the state board not later than two days after the date of 18 the issue of the denial, but in no event later than the twenty-fifth day 19 before the upcoming election. Not later than twenty days before the 20 upcoming election, the commissioners shall consider the appeal of any 21 denials. The commissioners' consideration of any appeal shall be made 22 solely by review of the executive directors' denial, the original 23 submission made by the appealing organization and any further written 24 submissions made with the appeal. Based on such review, the commission- 25 ers shall approve or deny the organization's or committee's authori- 26 zation to appoint monitors and notify the organization or committee and 27 the executive directors of that decision by email. Such review may be 28 conducted remotely, subject to the requirements of the open meetings law 29 for remote or hybrid meetings. 30 6. No later than fifteen days before an election, the state board of 31 elections shall send a list of all organizations or committee that have 32 been approved to appoint nonpartisan poll monitors to all county boards 33 of elections. Each organization or committee so approved shall provide 34 the board of elections for each county in which the organization or 35 committee plans to place nonpartisan poll monitors with a list of the 36 individuals it has trained and will deploy no later than two days before 37 the start of early voting for the relevant election. Such list may be 38 amended no later than noon on the Monday before the relevant election 39 day. 40 7. All nonpartisan poll monitors shall be required to wear a badge 41 with their name and the name of the civic organization or committee the 42 individual is representing, and to have proper credentials. Such creden- 43 tials shall be issued by and under the facsimile signatures of the rele- 44 vant board of elections and shall be available for distribution by the 45 relevant board of elections at least ten days prior to the election. 46 Such credentials shall be authorized by the real or facsimile signature 47 of the presiding officer of the civic organization or the chair of the 48 ballot issue committee, as the case may be. The presiding officer of the 49 civic organization or the chair of the ballot issue committee shall not 50 be required to submit the names or other information concerning nonpar- 51 tisan poll monitors before making credentials available to such persons 52 or organizations. 53 8. For all elections, appointed nonpartisan poll monitors pursuant to 54 this section shall be registered to vote in the county or city in which 55 the polling place to which they are assigned as a nonpartisan poll moni- 56 tor is located, except that residents aged sixteen and seventeen who areS. 5193--B 4 1 currently residing and enrolled in school in such county or city may 2 serve as poll monitors. 3 9. No person shall be qualified for appointment as a nonpartisan poll 4 monitor: 5 (a) who is not a registered voter in the county or city in which the 6 poll site or sites they will monitor is located, except for residents 7 aged sixteen and seventeen who are currently enrolled in school in such 8 county or city; 9 (b) who is a candidate for any office to be voted for at the election; 10 (c) who is a spouse, parent, child, brother or sister of any candidate 11 to be voted for at the election; 12 (d) who is married to a parent, child, brother or sister of any candi- 13 date to be voted for at the election or who is the parent of the spouse 14 of any candidate to be voted for at the election; 15 (e) who is a sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, deputy marshal or state 16 or municipal police officer; or 17 (f) who has failed to sign the volunteer pledge required pursuant to 18 subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision four of this section. 19 10. (a) A nonpartisan poll monitor appointed pursuant to this section 20 is not permitted to do any of the following while inside a polling site: 21 (i) query, solicit or interview voters. 22 (ii) make audio or video recordings of any voter or ballot. 23 (iii) in any manner intervene or interfere with the administration of 24 the election. 25 (iv) fail to comply with all instructions given to them by election 26 officials even if they disagree with those instructions. 27 (b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a nonpartisan poll monitor 28 from assisting a voter upon personal request of such voter and upon the 29 nonpartisan poll monitor taking the oath required by section 8-306 of 30 this article; provided however, a nonpartisan poll monitor shall not be 31 required to take such oath unless such monitor will be assisting a 32 voter, and provided further, nothing in this section shall be construed 33 to otherwise prevent non-electioneering communication with voters that 34 occurs outside of a polling place. 35 11. A nonpartisan poll monitor appointed pursuant to this section may 36 do one or more of the following: 37 (a) observe the manner in which the duties of the election inspectors 38 are being performed. 39 (b) bring to an election inspector's attention any of the following: 40 (i) improper handling of a ballot by an elector or election inspector. 41 (ii) campaigning or electioneering being performed by an election 42 inspector or other person in violation of this chapter. 43 (iii) an election procedure that is not being properly performed. 44 (iv) a violation of election law or other prescribed election proce- 45 dure. 46 (c) remain during the canvass of votes and until the statement of 47 returns is duly signed and made. 48 (d) assist any voter upon request. 49 (e) keep records of votes cast. 50 12. Nonpartisan poll monitors shall present their credentials to an 51 election inspector upon entering any polling place to which they may be 52 assigned, which credentials shall be in substantially the following 53 form: 54 POLL MONITOR CREDENTIALSS. 5193--B 5 1 In accordance with the provisions of the Election Law, the undersigned 2 is authorized to appoint __________ (name of poll monitor) who resides 3 at ___________ (address) in the county of ___________, __________ (town- 4 ship or municipality) of ______________ (name), State of New York and 5 who is duly registered to vote from this address, to act as a poll moni- 6 tor, at the polling place(s) located in the (county or city) of 7 ___________ at the ___________(special, primary or general) election to 8 be held on (insert date). 9 ___________________________________(Signature of Appointing Authority) 10 ___________________________________TITLE (civic organization president, 11 Ballot issue committee chair) 12 Under penalty of perjury, the undersigned poll monitor certifies that 13 such poll monitor resides at _______________(address) in the county of 14 _________ (township or municipality) of __________ (name), State of New 15 York, and is duly registered to vote in New York. 16 __________________________ ___________________________ 17 (Election District & Assembly (Signature of Poll Monitor) 18 District in 19 Which Poll Monitor Resides) 20 13. Nonpartisan poll monitor credentials properly executed and signed 21 shall be proof of the qualifications of the nonpartisan poll monitor 22 authorized thereby. After presenting such credentials to an election 23 inspector, the credentials are retained by the monitor but turned in to 24 an election inspector at the final polling location which a monitor 25 visits and returned to the relevant board of elections at the end of the 26 day of election with the other election materials. A nonpartisan poll 27 monitor may leave and reenter the polling place provided that such 28 continuing action does not disrupt the conduct of the election. Nonpar- 29 tisan poll monitors may be substituted during the course of the day, but 30 qualified civic organizations can have only as many nonpartisan poll 31 monitors at any given time as are authorized in this section. A substi- 32 tute shall present their signed credential to the inspectors of election 33 upon entering the polling place and shall wear the required badge. 34 14. There shall be no more than two nonpartisan poll monitors from any 35 organization or committee at any polling place at the same time. If more 36 than one organization or committee assigns nonpartisan poll monitors to 37 the same polling place, then election inspectors may limit the number of 38 nonpartisan poll monitors, with only one monitor from each organization 39 or committee within the polling place at the same time, up to a limit of 40 four separate organizations or committees. 41 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
