Bill Text: NY A08998 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides access to students on information pertaining to voter education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-03-02 - ordered to third reading cal.434 [A08998 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A08998-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8998

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     January 9, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Election Law

        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to voter registration form
          distribution and assistance

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

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 18 of section 5-211 of  the  election  law,  as
     2  amended  by  a  chapter  of  the laws of 2019, amending the election law
     3  relating to voter registration  form  distribution  and  assistance,  as
     4  proposed  in  legislative  bills  numbers  S. 1128-A and A.   2599-A, is
     5  amended to read as follows:
     6    18. (a) (i) On or before  January  first,  two  thousand  twenty,  all
     7  institutions of the state university of New York and the city university
     8  of  New  York  shall create and make available to all students a webpage
     9  for voter education on each such  institution's  website,  containing  a
    10  link  to an application for voter registration, a link to an application
    11  for an absentee ballot, contact information  for  the  county  board  of
    12  elections,  and  the  name and contact information for the administrator
    13  responsible for voter registration assistance on each campus.
    14    (ii) Each such institution shall, at the beginning of the school year,
    15  and again in January of a year in which  the  president  of  the  United
    16  States  is  to be elected, provide an application for voter registration
    17  and an application for an absentee ballot to each student in  each  such
    18  institution.  [Such institutions shall also offer each student an appli-
    19  cation for an absentee ballot. Such institutions shall provide the  same
    20  degree of assistance as required of participating agencies.] Each insti-
    21  tution  shall  be considered in compliance with [these] the requirements
    22  of this subparagraph for each student to whom the institution  electron-
    23  ically  transmits a message containing the link to the webpage for voter
    24  education [and], the link to an application for voter  registration  and
    25  the  link  to an application for an absentee ballot, if such information
    26  is in an electronic message devoted exclusively to voter registration.
    27    (iii) Each such institution shall provide the same degree  of  assist-
    28  ance as required of participating agencies.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01179-06-9
        A. 8998                             2

     1    (b)  [Each  institution] The state university of New York and the city
     2  university of New York, on behalf of each institution within its system,
     3  shall on or before [January] June first, two thousand twenty,  and  each
     4  subsequent  year, submit a report disaggregated according to each insti-
     5  tution to the state board of elections that includes:
     6    (i) the efforts of the institution to register voters in the preceding
     7  calendar year;
     8    (ii)  a  date-stamped  screen  shot of the webpage for voter education
     9  that contains the required  information  under  paragraph  (a)  of  this
    10  subdivision;
    11    (iii)  the  number  of students who were registered for course work in
    12  the preceding twelve months  at  such  institution  and  the  number  of
    13  [students  who clicked] clicks on the links to online voter registration
    14  and absentee ballot applications; and
    15    (iv) any other efforts or recommendations  the  institution  plans  to
    16  implement  to  improve  access to voter registration and absentee ballot
    17  voting for students at the institution.
    18    (c) The state board of  elections  shall  make  the  reports  provided
    19  pursuant  to paragraph (b) of this subdivision publicly available on its
    20  website.
    21    § 2. This act shall take effect on the  same  date  and  in  the  same
    22  manner  as  a  chapter  of  the  laws of 2019, amending the election law
    23  relating to voter registration  form  distribution  and  assistance,  as
    24  proposed  in  legislative  bills numbers S. 1128-A and A.  2599-A, takes
    25  effect.