Bill Text: NY A00163 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Assembly Bill 163 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requires the state board of elections to create a system to allow a copy of the candidate and contest information contained on each ballot style submitted by each county board of elections to be accessible to the public via web.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-24 - signed chap.410 [A00163 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A00163-Introduced.html

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           163
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  L. ROSENTHAL, BENEDETTO, BUCHWALD, ABINANTI,
          GALEF, STECK, ASHBY -- read once and  referred  to  the  Committee  on
          Election Law
        AN  ACT  to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the posting
          of sample ballots on a board of elections website
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Section  7-118 of the election law, as amended by chapter
     2  157 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 7-118. Ballots; facsimile and sample. The board of  elections  shall
     4  provide facsimile and sample ballots which shall be arranged in the form
     5  of  a  diagram  showing  such  part of the face of the voting machine as
     6  shall be in use at that election.   Such facsimile  and  sample  ballots
     7  shall  be  either  in  full  or  reduced size and shall contain suitable
     8  illustrated directions for voting on the voting machine. Such  facsimile
     9  ballots  shall  be  mounted  and displayed for public inspection at each
    10  polling place during election day. Sample ballots may be mailed  by  the
    11  board of elections to each eligible voter at least three days before the
    12  election,  or  in  lieu  thereof,  a  copy  of such sample ballot may be
    13  published at least once within one week preceding the election in  news-
    14  papers  representing  the major political parties.  Each county board of
    15  elections shall transmit electronically in a format to be determined  by
    16  the  state  board of elections, as it is available, a copy of the candi-
    17  date and contest information contained on each of its ballot  styles  to
    18  the  state  board of elections. The state board shall create a system to
    19  allow such information to be made publicly available via its website, as
    20  well as the website of any county board of elections, and in such a  way
    21  as  to be accessible with a computer screen-reading program. One copy of
    22  such facsimile shall be sent to each school in the county, providing the
    23  ninth through the twelfth years of compulsory education, and in the city
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00515-01-9

        A. 163                              2
     1  of New York to each such school in the city of New York,  at  least  one
     2  week  before  each general election for posting at a convenient place in
     3  such school. The board of elections shall also send a  facsimile  ballot
     4  to any other school requesting such a ballot.
     5    § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2021.