Bill Text: NY A02574 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the automatic voter registration process; amends certain voter registration processes and the agencies to be included as designated agencies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-02-16 - signed chap.37 [A02574 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A02574-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2574 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 19, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the automatic voter registration process The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Title 9 of article 5 of the election law, as added by a 2 chapter of the laws of 2020 amending the election law relating to estab- 3 lishing an automatic voter registration process integrated within desig- 4 nated agency applications, as proposed in legislative bills numbers 5 S.8806 and A.8280-C, is amended to read as follows: 6 TITLE IX 7 AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION 8 Section 5-900. Integrated personal voter registration application 9 required. 10 5-902. Failure to receive exemplar signature not to prevent 11 registration. 12 5-904. Presumption of innocent authorized error. 13 5-906. Forms. 14 § 5-900. Integrated personal voter registration application required. 15 1. In addition to any other method of voter registration provided for by 16 this chapter, state and local agencies designated in subdivisions thir- 17 teen and fourteen of this section shall provide to the state board of 18 elections voter registration qualification information associated with 19 each person who submits an application for services or assistance at 20 such agency, including a renewal, recertification, or reexamination 21 transaction at such agency, and each person who [notifies the agency of] 22 submits a change of address or name form. For the purposes of the 23 department of motor vehicles, "application for services or assistance at 24 such agency" refers only to an application for a motor vehicle driver's 25 license, a driver's license renewal or an identification card if such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07188-01-1A. 2574 2 1 card is issued by the department of motor vehicles in its normal course 2 of business. For purposes of the New York city housing authority 3 "application for services or assistance at such agency" refers only to 4 applications that reach an eligibility interview and reexamination tran- 5 sactions. Such designated agencies shall ensure agency applications 6 substantially include all of the elements required by section 5-210 of 7 this article, including the appropriate attestation, so that persons 8 completing such applications shall be able to also submit an application 9 to register to vote through the electronic voter registration transmit- 10 tal system. For purposes of this section, "agency" shall mean any state 11 or local agency, department, division, office, institution or other 12 entity designated in subdivision thirteen of this section or designated 13 by the governor pursuant to subdivision fourteen of this section. For 14 purposes of this section, registration shall also include pre-registra- 15 tion pursuant to section 5-507 of this article. 16 2. For each application submitted to the agency, whether electron- 17 ically or on paper, the agency shall transmit to the state board of 18 elections through an interface with the electronic voter registration 19 transmittal system established and maintained by the state board of 20 elections that portion of the application that includes voter registra- 21 tion information. The state board of elections shall electronically 22 forward such application to the applicable board of elections of each 23 county or the city of New York for filing, processing and verification 24 consistent with this chapter. 25 3. An integrated voter registration form submitted to an agency in 26 paper format shall be transmitted to the state board of elections 27 through an electronic voter registration transmittal system by convert- 28 ing the paper form to an image file or a portable document format file 29 which shall thereafter be deemed the original form for voter registra- 30 tion and enrollment purposes. The agency shall retain the complete 31 original paper application for no less than two years. The transmittal 32 of the converted paper application may include or be accompanied by data 33 elements and transmittal information as required by the rules and regu- 34 lations of the state board of elections. 35 4. An integrated voter registration application submitted to an agency 36 in an electronic format shall be transmitted to the state board of 37 elections through the electronic voter registration transmittal system 38 and shall include all of the voter registration data elements, including 39 electronic signature, as applicable, and record of attestation of the 40 accuracy of the voter registration information and any relevant document 41 images. 42 5. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no agency designated 43 under this section shall transmit to the state board of elections any 44 application for registration for a person that indicates on the inte- 45 grated personal voter registration application that they do not meet one 46 of the eligibility requirements. 47 6. The voter registration related portion of each agency's integrated 48 application for services or assistance shall: 49 (a) include a statement of the eligibility requirements for voter 50 registration and shall require the applicant to attest by [his or her] 51 the applicant's signature that [he or she] the applicant meets those 52 requirements under penalty of perjury and is applying to register or 53 pre-register to vote unless such applicant declines such registration; 54 (b) inform the applicant, in print identical to that used in the 55 attestation section of the following: 56 (i) voter eligibility requirements;A. 2574 3 1 (ii) penalties for submission of a false registration application; 2 (iii) that the office where the applicant applies for registration 3 shall remain confidential and the voter registration information shall 4 be used only for voter registration purposes; 5 (iv) that if the applicant applies to register to vote electronically, 6 such applicant thereby consents to the use of an electronic copy of the 7 individual's manual signature that is in the custody of the department 8 of motor vehicles, the state board of elections, or other agency desig- 9 nated by this section, as the individual's voter registration exemplar 10 signature if the individual voter's exemplar signature is not provided 11 with the voter registration application; 12 (v) if the applicant signs the application and does not check the box 13 declining to register to vote, such applicant thereby consents to the 14 use of any information required to complete the voter registration 15 application; 16 (vi) if the applicant declines to register, such applicant's declina- 17 tion shall remain confidential and be used only for voter registration 18 purposes; and 19 [(vi)] (vii) that applying to register or declining to register to 20 vote will not affect the amount of assistance that the applicant will be 21 provided by this agency; 22 (c) include a box for the applicant to check to indicate whether the 23 applicant would like to decline to register to vote along with the 24 following statement in prominent type, "IF YOU DO NOT CHECK THIS BOX, 25 AND YOU PROVIDE YOUR SIGNATURE ON THE SPACE BELOW, YOU WILL HAVE 26 [ATTESTED TO YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO REGISTER OR PRE-REGISTER TO VOTE AND27YOU WILL HAVE] APPLIED TO REGISTER OR PRE-REGISTER TO VOTE, AND YOU WILL 28 HAVE ATTESTED TO YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO REGISTER OR PRE-REGISTER TO VOTE." 29 (d) include the following warning statement in prominent type, "IF YOU 30 ARE NOT A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, YOU MUST CHECK THE BOX BELOW. 31 NON-CITIZENS WHO REGISTER OR PRE-REGISTER TO VOTE MAY BE SUBJECT TO 32 CRIMINAL PENALTIES AND SUCH VOTER REGISTRATION OR PRE-REGISTRATION MAY 33 RESULT IN DEPORTATION OR REMOVAL, EXCLUSION FROM ADMISSION TO THE UNITED 34 STATES, OR DENIAL OF NATURALIZATION."; 35 (e) include a space for the applicant to indicate [his or her] the 36 applicant's choice of party enrollment, with a clear alternative 37 provided for the applicant to decline to affiliate with any party and 38 the following statement in prominent type "[IF YOU DO NOT CHOOSE A PARTY39YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS FOR THAT PARTY] 40 ONLY ENROLLED MEMBERS OF A POLITICAL PARTY MAY VOTE IN THAT PARTY'S 41 PRIMARIES". 42 (f) include a statement that if an applicant is a victim of domestic 43 violence or stalking, [he or she] the applicant may contact the state 44 board of elections before or after registering or pre-registering to 45 vote in order to receive information regarding the address confidential- 46 ity program for victims of domestic violence under section 5-508 of this 47 article. 48 7. Information from the voter relevant to both voter registration and 49 the agency application shall be entered by the voter only once upon an 50 electronic application. 51 8. The agency shall redact or remove from the completed integrated 52 application to be transmitted to the state board of elections any infor- 53 mation solely applicable to the agency application. 54 9. Information concerning the citizenship status of individuals, when 55 collected and transmitted pursuant to subdivision one of this section,A. 2574 4 1 shall not be retained, used or shared for any other purpose except as 2 may be required by law. 3 10. A voter shall be able to decline to register to vote using an 4 integrated application by selecting a single check box, or equivalent, 5 which shall include the following statement: "I DECLINE USE OF THIS FORM 6 FOR VOTER REGISTRATION AND PRE-REGISTRATION PURPOSES. DO NOT FORWARD MY 7 INFORMATION TO THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS." 8 11. The voter shall be able to sign the voter registration application 9 and the agency application by means of a single manual or electronic 10 signature unless the agency requires more than one signature for other 11 agency purposes. 12 12. No application for voter registration shall be submitted if the 13 applicant declines registration or fails to sign the integrated applica- 14 tion, whether on paper or online. 15 13. [Designated] Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-three, 16 designated agencies for purposes of this section shall include the 17 department of motor vehicles[,]. Beginning January first, two thousand 18 twenty-four, designated agencies for the purposes of this section shall 19 also include the department of health, the office of temporary and disa- 20 bility assistance, the department of labor, [the office of vocational21and educational services for individuals with disabilities,] the office 22 of adult career and continuing education services - vocational rehabili- 23 tation, county and city departments of social services, and the New York 24 city housing authority, as well as any other agency designated by the 25 governor. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-five, designated 26 agencies for the purposes of this section shall also include the state 27 university of New York. Each designated agency shall enter into an 28 agreement with the state board of elections finalizing the format and 29 content of electronic transmissions required by this section. The state 30 board of elections shall prepare and distribute to designated agencies 31 written instructions as to the implementation of the program and shall 32 be responsible for establishing training programs for employees of 33 designated agencies listed in this section. Such instructions and such 34 training shall ensure usability of the integrated application for low 35 English proficiency voters. Any such designated agency shall take all 36 actions that are necessary and proper for the implementation of this 37 section, including facilitating technological capabilities to allow 38 transmission of data through an interface with the electronic voter 39 registration transmittal system in a secure manner. 40 14. [Each] Every other year, the governor shall conduct a review of 41 each participating agency under section 5-211 of this article not 42 already designated as an automatic voter registration agency pursuant to 43 this subdivision in order to determine whether designation is appropri- 44 ate. The governor shall designate each participating agency that 45 collects information or documents that would provide proof of eligibil- 46 ity to vote unless the governor determines that there are compelling 47 reasons why automatic voter registration is not feasible at the agency. 48 If the governor should determine that there are compelling reasons why 49 automatic voter registration is not feasible at an agency, the governor 50 shall prepare a report explaining those reasons to the legislature by 51 the end of the calendar year in which that determination is made. Any 52 agency designated by the governor pursuant to this subdivision shall 53 provide automatic voter registration upon the earlier occurrence of: (a) 54 two years after designation by the governor, or (b) five days after the 55 date of certification by the state board of elections that the informa-A. 2574 5 1 tion technology infrastructure to substantially implement the provisions 2 of this section at the agency is functional. 3 15. The state board of elections shall promulgate rules and regu- 4 lations for the creation and administration of an integrated electronic 5 voter registration process as provided for by this section. 6 16. Each participating agency shall provide an opportunity through 7 rulemaking for public notice and comment regarding the plans for imple- 8 mentation in the agency. Such opportunity must be provided sufficiently 9 in advance of implementation to allow for adjustment of agency plans to 10 take public comment into account. Agency plans for implementation shall 11 provide for sufficient testing of the process in the agency prior to 12 implementation in order to ensure the technology is functioning proper- 13 ly, the process is usable and understandable for applicants and agency 14 employees, and reasonable precautions have been put in place to minimize 15 error or the possibility of discouraging applications for services, 16 assistance, or registration. 17 § 5-902. Failure to receive exemplar signature not to prevent regis- 18 tration. If a voter registration exemplar signature is not received from 19 an applicant who submits a voter registration or pre-registration appli- 20 cation pursuant to this title and such signature exemplar is not other- 21 wise available from the statewide voter registration database or a state 22 or local agency, the local board of elections shall, absent another 23 reason to reject the application, proceed to register or pre-register 24 and, as applicable, enroll the applicant. Within ten days of such 25 action, the board of elections shall send a standard form promulgated by 26 the state board of elections to the voter whose record lacks an exemplar 27 signature, requiring such voter to submit a signature for identification 28 purposes. The voter shall submit to the board of elections a voter 29 registration exemplar signature by any one of the following methods: in 30 person, by mail with return postage paid provided by the board of 31 elections, by electronic mail, or by electronic upload to the board of 32 elections through the electronic voter registration transmittal system. 33 If such voter does not provide the required exemplar signature, when the 34 voter appears to vote the voter shall be entitled to vote by affidavit 35 ballot. 36 § 5-904. Presumption of innocent authorized error. 1. Notwithstanding 37 subdivision six of section 5-210 of this article or any other law to the 38 contrary, a person who is ineligible to vote who fails to decline to 39 register or pre-register to vote in accordance with the provisions of 40 this section and did not willfully and knowingly seek to register or 41 pre-register to vote knowing that [he or she] the person is not eligible 42 to do so: 43 (a) shall not be guilty of any crime as the result of the applicant's 44 failure to make such declination; 45 (b) shall be deemed to have been registered or pre-registered with 46 official authorization; and 47 (c) such act may not be considered as evidence of a claim to citizen- 48 ship. 49 2. Notwithstanding subdivision six of section 5-210 of this article or 50 any other law to the contrary, a person who is ineligible to vote who 51 fails to decline to register or pre-register to vote in accordance with 52 the provisions of this section, who then either votes or attempts to 53 vote in an election held after the effective date of that person's 54 registration, and who did not willfully and knowingly seek to register 55 or pre-register to vote knowing that [he or she] the person is notA. 2574 6 1 eligible to do so, and did not subsequently vote or attempt to vote 2 knowing that [he or she] the person is not eligible to do so: 3 (a) shall not be guilty of any crime as the result of the applicant's 4 failure to make such declination and subsequent vote or attempt to vote; 5 (b) shall be deemed to have been registered or pre-registered with 6 official authorization; and 7 (c) such act may not be considered as evidence of a claim to citizen- 8 ship. 9 § 5-906. Forms. The state board of elections shall promulgate rules 10 and regulations to implement this title. All agency forms and notices 11 required by this title shall be approved by the state board of 12 elections. All applications and notices for use by a board of elections 13 pursuant to this title shall be promulgated by the state board of 14 elections, and no addition or alteration to such forms by a board of 15 elections shall be made without approval of the state board of 16 elections. 17 § 2. Section 5-308 of the election law, as added by a chapter of the 18 laws of 2020 amending the election law relating to establishing an auto- 19 matic voter registration process integrated within designated agency 20 applications, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.8806 and 21 A.8280-C, is amended to read as follows: 22 § 5-308. Enrollment; automatic voter registration. 1. The board of 23 elections shall, promptly and not later than twenty-one days after 24 receipt of a voter registration or pre-registration application submit- 25 ted pursuant to title nine of this article by a voter registering or 26 pre-registering for the first time, send any such voter who did not 27 enroll in a party a notice and a form to indicate party enrollment[,28with return postage paid by the board of elections]. Such notice shall 29 offer the voter the opportunity to enroll with a party or to decline to 30 enroll with a party and contain the following statement in prominent 31 type "[IF YOU DO NOT CHOOSE A PARTY YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE32IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS FOR THAT PARTY] ONLY ENROLLED MEMBERS OF A POLI- 33 TICAL PARTY MAY VOTE IN THAT PARTY'S PRIMARIES." Such form shall provide 34 a clear alternative for the applicant to decline to affiliate with any 35 party. [If the board of elections has not received a response to the36party enrollment notice and form within forty-five days of the applica-37tion, the board shall mail a second similar notice and form to the38voter.] 39 2. Notwithstanding subdivision two of section 5-304 of this title, if 40 a voter who registered to vote for the first time (or pre-registered) 41 pursuant to title nine of this article responds to the notice required 42 by subdivision one of this section and elects to enroll in a party, such 43 enrollment shall take effect immediately. However, any pre-registrant's 44 registration shall remain classified as "pending" until [he or she] the 45 voter reaches the age of eligibility. 46 3. If a voter appears at a primary election and votes by affidavit 47 ballot indicating the intent to enroll in such party, such affidavit 48 ballot shall cause the voter to be enrolled immediately in that party if 49 the board of elections determines that the voter registered (or pre-re- 50 gistered) to vote for the first time pursuant to title nine of this 51 article. 52 4. If a voter appears at a primary election and votes by affidavit 53 ballot indicating the intent to enroll in such party, such affidavit 54 ballot shall be cast and counted if the board of elections determines 55 that the voter registered (or pre-registered) to vote at least twenty-A. 2574 7 1 five days before that primary pursuant to title nine of this article and 2 such voter is otherwise qualified to vote in such election. 3 § 3. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 4 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2020 amending the election law relat- 5 ing to establishing an automatic voter registration process integrated 6 within designated agency applications, as proposed in legislative bills 7 numbers S.8806 and A.8280-C, takes effect.
