Bill Text: NY A02961 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An act to amend the election law, in relation to allowing application for absentee ballots by electronic means

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 8-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-05 - held for consideration in election law [A02961 Detail]

Download: New_York-2009-A02961-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2961
                              2009-2010 Regular Sessions
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                   January 22, 2009
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by M. of A. BARCLAY, OAKS, FINCH, KOLB -- Multi-Sponsored by
         -- M. of A.  BACALLES,  CROUCH,  REILICH,  THIELE  --  read  once  and
         referred to the Committee on Election Law
       AN  ACT  to  amend the election law, in relation to allowing application
         for absentee ballots by electronic means
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1.  Paragraphs  (a),  (c) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section
    2  8-400 of the election law, paragraph (a) as amended by  chapter  263  of
    3  the laws of 1991, paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 321 of the laws of
    4  1988  and paragraph (d) as added by chapter 216 of the laws of 1988, are
    5  amended to read as follows:
    6    (a) Application forms shall be furnished by and may be  obtained  from
    7  any  board  of elections at any time until the day before such election.
    8  FOR ANY ELECTIONS AFTER JANUARY FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TEN,  APPLICATION
    9  FORMS  SHALL  BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED VOTERS BY ELECTRONIC MEANS
   10  WHICH SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO,  TELEFACSIMILE  TRANSMISSION
   11  OR  ELECTRONIC  MAIL.  Application  forms  shall also be supplied by the
   12  board of inspectors of the election district in  which  applicant  is  a
   13  qualified  voter  on all of the days provided for local registration. In
   14  addition, application forms shall be supplied upon the  request  of  the
   15  person  authorized  to  vote pursuant to this section, any such person's
   16  spouse, parent or child, a person  residing  with  the  applicant  as  a
   17  member  of  his  household,  or  the  applicant's duly authorized agent.
   18  Application forms sent outside of the United States to a  country  other
   19  than Canada or Mexico, shall be sent airmail. Any reference to "board of
   20  elections"  in  the  remaining  provisions  of this section, except with
   21  respect to the furnishing and obtaining  of  applications  for  absentee
   22  ballots,  means  only  the  board  of elections of the county or city in
   23  which the applicant is a qualified voter.
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD03016-01-9
       A. 2961                             2
    1    (c) All applications must be mailed OR TRANSMITTED BY ELECTRONIC MEANS
    2  to the board of elections not later than  the  seventh  day  before  the
    3  election  for  which  a  ballot  is first requested or delivered to such
    4  board not later than the day before such election.
    5    (d)  The  board  of  elections  shall mail an absentee ballot to every
    6  qualified voter otherwise eligible for such a ballot, who  requests such
    7  an absentee ballot from such board of elections in  a letter OR BY ELEC-
    8  TRONIC TRANSMISSION, which is signed by the voter and  received  by  the
    9  board of elections not earlier than the thirtieth day nor later than the
   10  seventh  day before the election for which the ballot is first requested
   11  and which states the address where  the  voter  is  registered  and  the
   12  address  to  which  the  ballot  is to be mailed. The board of elections
   13  shall enclose with such  ballot  a  form  of  application  for  absentee
   14  ballot.
   15    S 2. Subdivision 9 of section 8-400 of the election law, as amended by
   16  chapter 373 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
   17    9. The state board of elections shall prescribe a standard application
   18  form  for  use under this section. The use of any application form which
   19  substantially complies with the provisions  of  this  section  shall  be
   20  acceptable  and  any  application filed on such a form shall be accepted
   21  for filing.  THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL ALSO PRESCRIBE A  STAND-
   22  ARD  APPLICATION  FORM  FOR  WHICH APPLICATION MAY BE MADE BY ELECTRONIC
   23  TRANSMISSION INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, TELEFACSIMILE OR  ELECTRONIC
   24  MAIL.
   25    S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.