Bill Text: NY A05992 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to automatic voter registration when applying for licenses through the department of motor vehicles and graduating from high school.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to election law [A05992 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A05992-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5992 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 21, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Election Law AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to automatic voter regis- tration when applying for licenses through the department of motor vehicles and graduating from high school 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 5-200 2 to read as follows: 3 § 5-200. Automatic voter registration. 1. Notwithstanding any other 4 manner of registration required by this article, each person in the 5 state qualified to vote pursuant to section 5-102 of this article, shall 6 be automatically registered to vote as provided in this section, 7 provided that the person does not elect to decline registration to vote 8 at the point of service. 9 2. The state board of elections or county board of elections shall 10 register to vote or update the registration record of any person in the 11 state qualified to vote pursuant to section 5-102 of this article who 12 does not elect to decline registration to vote or update the registra- 13 tion record at the point of service and does any of the following: 14 (a) completes an application for a new or renewed driver's license, 15 non-driver identification card, pre-licensing course certificate, 16 learner's permit or certification of supervised driving with the depart- 17 ment of motor vehicles, or notifies such department in writing of a 18 change of his or her name or address; or 19 (b) graduates from a New York state high school. 20 3. The state board of elections shall enter into agreements with the 21 department of education and the department of motor vehicles to ensure 22 that for each person described in subdivision two of this section, the 23 department of education and the department of motor vehicles electron- 24 ically transmits to the state or local boards of elections the following EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09504-01-7A. 5992 2 1 information in a format that can be read by the computerized statewide 2 voter registration list: 3 (a) given name or names and surname or surnames; 4 (b) mailing address and residential address; 5 (c) date of birth; 6 (d) citizenship; 7 (e) driver's license or non-driver identification card number, last 8 four digits of the person's social security number, or a space for the 9 person to indicate that he or she does not have any such number; 10 (f) political party enrollment, if any; 11 (g) an indication that the person intends to apply for an absentee 12 ballot, if any; and 13 (h) an image of the person's signature. 14 In the event that any transmission of data pursuant to this section 15 fails to include an image of an individual's signature, the absence of a 16 signature shall not preclude the registration of an eligible citizen. 17 The board of elections shall develop procedures to enable an eligible 18 citizen, whose information is transmitted pursuant to this section and 19 whose information lacks an electronic signature, to provide a signature 20 at the polling place or with an application for an absentee ballot 21 before voting. The board may require an elector who has not provided a 22 signature before arriving at the polling place or submitting an absentee 23 ballot to present a current and valid photo identification or a copy of 24 a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or 25 other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. 26 4. If the department of education or the department of motor vehicles 27 does not obtain information concerning the citizenship status of persons 28 described in subdivision two of this section, it shall obtain informa- 29 tion sufficient to transmit to the board of elections indications of 30 United States citizenship for each person described in subdivision two 31 of this section, but shall not retain, use, or share any such informa- 32 tion relating to an individual's citizenship for any other purpose. 33 5. Each high school and the department of motor vehicles shall include 34 for each person described in subdivision two of this section a statement 35 that he or she shall be registered to vote, if he or she is not already 36 so registered, provided, however, that each high school and the depart- 37 ment of motor vehicles shall provide each person described in subdivi- 38 sion two of this section the opportunity to elect to decline registra- 39 tion to vote at the point of service, and upon such election, he or she 40 shall not be registered to vote pursuant to the procedures in this 41 section at that time. 42 6. The state board of elections shall prepare and distribute to the 43 department of motor vehicles written instructions as to the implementa- 44 tion of the program and shall be responsible for establishing training 45 programs for employees. Training shall include requirements that employ- 46 ees of the department of motor vehicles communicate to each individual 47 identified in subdivision two of this section that the department of 48 motor vehicles maintains strict neutrality with respect to a person's 49 party enrollment and all persons seeking voter registration forms and 50 information shall be advised that government services are not condi- 51 tioned on being registered to vote, or eligibility to register to vote. 52 No statement shall be made nor any action taken to discourage the appli- 53 cant from registering to vote. 54 7. The state board of elections and department of education shall 55 prepare and distribute to each high school within the state written 56 instructions as to the implementation of the program and shall beA. 5992 3 1 responsible for establishing training programs for employees. Training 2 shall include requirements that employees of the high school communicate 3 to each student that the high school maintains strict neutrality with 4 respect to a person's party enrollment and all students seeking voter 5 registration forms and information shall be advised that they shall not 6 be disciplined based on being registered to vote, party enrollment, or 7 eligibility to register to vote. No statement shall be made nor any 8 action taken to discourage a student from registering to vote. 9 8. The agreements between the state board of elections and the depart- 10 ment of education and the department of motor vehicles shall include the 11 format in which information will be transmitted, whether and how each 12 entity will collect, in addition to the mandatory information listed in 13 subdivision three of this section, additional information on a voluntary 14 basis from persons for the purpose of facilitating voter registration, 15 the frequency of data transmissions, the procedures, and other measures 16 that will be used to ensure the security and privacy of the information 17 transmitted, and any other matter necessary or helpful to implement the 18 requirements of this section. 19 9. The department of education and the department of motor vehicles 20 shall cooperate with the state board of elections and county board of 21 elections to facilitate the voter registration of each person described 22 in subdivision two of this section, and to electronically transmit the 23 information needed to register each such person to vote or to update 24 each such person's voter registration record. 25 10. The department of education and the department of motor vehicles 26 shall enter into an agreement with the state board of elections finaliz- 27 ing the format and content of electronic transmissions required by this 28 section no later than September first, two thousand eighteen; provided, 29 that the department of education and the department of motor vehicles 30 shall be able to comply fully with all requirements of this section, 31 including the collection and transmission of all data required to regis- 32 ter individuals to vote, by January first, two thousand nineteen. 33 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 34 it shall have become a law.
