Bill Text: NY A03992 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Relates to construction of voting machines and systems.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 43-10)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to election law [A03992 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A03992-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3992--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 8, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. CARROLL, PAULIN, DICKENS, REYES, SAYEGH, SIMON,
          DeSTEFANO, COOK,  EPSTEIN,  KELLES,  WOERNER,  L. ROSENTHAL,  LUPARDO,
          JACKSON,  RAJKUMAR,  FORREST,  BURDICK,  DINOWITZ,  BICHOTTE HERMELYN,
          THIELE, JACOBSON, FAHY,  DURSO,  GALLAGHER,  MAMDANI,  NORRIS,  TAGUE,
          BURGOS,  ANDERSON,  BRABENEC,  TAYLOR,  BARRETT,  McDONOUGH, ZINERMAN,
          COLTON, CLARK, SIMPSON, PRETLOW, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, DE LOS SANTOS, LUCAS,
          TAPIA, GANDOLFO, GLICK, ROZIC, GIBBS, SEAWRIGHT,  J. A. GIGLIO,  SHIM-
          SKY,  DARLING,  LEVENBERG,  SHRESTHA -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
          MIKULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation  to  construction  of  and
          requirements for voting machines and systems

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 7-104 of the election law is amended  by  adding  a
     2  new subdivision 28 to read as follows:
     3    28.  The  ballot  shall  be  marked  or  printed on durable paper. For
     4  purposes of this section, "durable paper" is defined as paper capable of
     5  withstanding multiple counts and recounts by  hand  or  machine  without
     6  compromising  the  fundamental  integrity of the ballots, and capable of
     7  retaining the information marked or printed on such paper for  the  full
     8  duration  of  a  retention  and preservation period set forth in section
     9  3-222 of this chapter.
    10    § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 7-200 of the election law, as amended by
    11  chapter 181 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
    12    1. The board of elections of the city of New  York  and  other  county
    13  boards  of  elections  may  adopt  any  kind of voting machine or system
    14  approved by the state board of elections, or the use of which  has  been
    15  specifically  authorized  by  law;  and thereupon such voting machine or
    16  system may be used at any or all elections and  shall  be  used  at  all

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04070-02-3
        A. 3992--A                          2

     1  general  or  special elections held by such boards in such city, town or
     2  village and in every contested primary election in the city of New  York
     3  and  in every contested primary election outside the city of New York in
     4  which  there are one thousand or more enrolled voters qualified to vote.
     5  [No more than two types of voting machines or systems may be used by any
     6  local board of elections at  a  single  election.]  Notwithstanding  the
     7  other  provisions  of this subdivision, any local board of elections may
     8  borrow or lease for use on an experimental basis for  a  period  of  not
     9  more than one year each, voting machines or systems of any type approved
    10  by the state board of elections.
    11    §  3. Paragraphs b, e, j, s and t of subdivision 1 of section 7-202 of
    12  the election law, as added by chapter 181  of  the  laws  of  2005,  are
    13  amended  and  three  new  paragraphs  u,  v  and  w are added to read as
    14  follows:
    15    b. permit a voter to vote for any person for any  office,  whether  or
    16  not  nominated  as a candidate by any party or independent body [without
    17  the ballot, or any part thereof, being removed from the machine  at  any
    18  time];
    19    e.  provide  the  voter  an opportunity to privately and independently
    20  mark and verify votes selected [and the] on an individual, voter-verifi-
    21  able paper ballot and the ability to privately and independently  change
    22  such  votes  or correct any error before the ballot is cast and counted,
    23  including by offering the voter a new paper ballot as many times  as  is
    24  allowed  by statute or regulation. For the purposes of this subdivision,
    25  the term "individual, voter-verifiable paper ballot" means either: (i) a
    26  paper ballot marked by the voter by hand; or (ii) a paper ballot  marked
    27  through  the use of a nontabulating ballot marking device or system. For
    28  the purposes of this title, a "ballot marking device" is a  device  that
    29  provides voters, including voters with disabilities, the ability to mark
    30  votes  on  physical,  paper ballots privately and independently. For the
    31  purposes of this title, a "nontabulating ballot  marking  device"  is  a
    32  ballot marking device that does not tabulate or transmit votes or retain
    33  any  record  of  a  voter's  selections,  other  than the original paper
    34  ballot, after the voter has finished marking the paper ballot and  using
    35  the device to review selections;
    36    j.  [retain all paper ballots cast or produce and retain a voter veri-
    37  fied permanent paper record which shall be presented to the  voter  from
    38  behind  a  window or other device before the ballot is cast,] for ballot
    39  scanners, retain paper ballots in a  manner  intended  and  designed  to
    40  protect  the  privacy  of  the  voter;  for nontabulating ballot marking
    41  devices, produce or process paper  ballots  in  a  manner  intended  and
    42  designed  to  protect the privacy of the voter; such ballots [or record]
    43  shall allow a manual audit and shall be preserved in accordance with the
    44  provisions of section 3-222 of this chapter;
    45    s. permit alternative language accessibility pursuant to the  require-
    46  ments  of  section  203  of  the  Voting  Rights  Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
    47  1973aa-1a) such that it must have  the  capacity  to  display  the  full
    48  ballot  in  the  alternative  languages  required  by the federal Voting
    49  Rights Act if such voting machine or system is to  be  used  where  such
    50  alternative  languages  are required or where the local board deems such
    51  feature necessary; [and]
    52    t. not include any device  or  functionality  potentially  capable  of
    53  externally  transmitting or receiving data via the internet or via radio
    54  waves or via other wireless means[.];
    55    u. be constructed so that, after the  paper  ballot  is  cast  by  the
    56  voter, the voting machine or system never passes the cast ballot under a
        A. 3992--A                          3

     1  printer  that  can print votes onto the ballot, including as a result of
     2  unauthorized, malicious or faulty software or firmware;
     3    v.  be  constructed  so the configuration or functionality of a voting
     4  machine or system does not include, within  the  same  physical  device,
     5  both  (i)  ballot  marking and (ii) tabulating or transmitting a voter's
     6  selections at any time or retaining any record of a voter's  selections,
     7  other than the original paper ballot, after the voter has finished mark-
     8  ing the paper ballot and using the device to review selections; and
     9    w.  not encode votes on a ballot, whether as a barcode, QR code or any
    10  kind of recording code that cannot be  verified  by  the  voter  without
    11  using a code-reading device. For the purposes of this paragraph, a "code
    12  reading  device"  is a device that reads and translates coded marks like
    13  QR codes or barcodes into language that can be  understood  without  any
    14  kind of device.
    15    §  4.  Subdivision 4 of section 7-202 of the election law, as added by
    16  chapter 181 of the laws of 2005, is amended and a new subdivision  5  is
    17  added to read as follows:
    18    4.  Local boards of elections which obtain voting machines pursuant to
    19  this chapter [may determine to] shall purchase [direct  recording  elec-
    20  tronic  machines  or optical scan machines] ballot scanners and nontabu-
    21  lating ballot marking devices in conformance with  the  requirements  of
    22  this chapter.
    23    5.  Local boards of elections must provide every voter, at every poll-
    24  ing place, both of the following options:  (a)  to  hand  mark  a  paper
    25  ballot; or (b) to use a nontabulating ballot marking device or system to
    26  mark  a  paper ballot. All paper ballots must be printed, scannable, and
    27  include all relevant contests and candidates.
    28    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided,  however,  that
    29  voting  machines  purchased  prior to the effective date of this act may
    30  continue to be used and maintained if they are designed and  constructed
    31  to  utilize  individual, voter verifiable paper ballots, as such term is
    32  defined in section 7-202 of the election law.