Bill Text: NY S05572 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Exempts public school buildings from being designated as early polling locations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS [S05572 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S05572-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5572

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 11, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  LANZA  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections

        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to exempting public school
          buildings from being designated as early polling locations

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

     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section  8-600 of the election law is
     2  amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
     3    (e) No public school building shall be designated as an early  polling
     4  location.
     5    § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law, as amended by
     6  chapter 694 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
     7    3.  A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible as
     8  a polling place if it is situated in the same or a  contiguous  election
     9  district,  and may contain as many distinctly separate polling places as
    10  public convenience may require. The expense, if any, incidental  to  its
    11  use,  shall be paid like the expense of other places of registration and
    12  voting. If a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses
    13  a public school building for such purpose, the  board  or  agency  which
    14  controls  such  building  must  make  available  a room or rooms in such
    15  building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as
    16  close as possible to a convenient entrance to  such  building  and  must
    17  make  available any such room or rooms which the board or body designat-
    18  ing such building  determines  are  accessible  to  physically  disabled
    19  voters as provided in subdivision one-a.  Notwithstanding the provisions
    20  of  this  subdivision,  no  board or body empowered to designate polling
    21  places shall designate a public school  building  as  an  early  polling
    22  location.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  any general, special or
    23  local law, if a board or body  empowered  to  designate  polling  places
    24  chooses  a publicly owned or leased building, other than a public school
    25  building, for such purposes the board or body which controls such build-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07073-01-1
        S. 5572                             2

     1  ing must make available a room or rooms in such building which are suit-
     2  able for registration and voting and which are as close as possible to a
     3  convenient entrance to such building, and must make available  any  such
     4  room  or  rooms which the board or body designating such building deter-
     5  mines are accessible to physically disabled  voters  unless,  not  later
     6  than thirty days after notice of its designation as a polling place, the
     7  board  or  body controlling such building, files a written request for a
     8  cancellation of such designation with the board  or  body  empowered  to
     9  designate  polling places on such form as shall be provided by the board
    10  or body making such designation. The  board  or  body  empowered  to  so
    11  designate  shall, within twenty days after such request is filed, deter-
    12  mine whether the use of such building as a polling place would unreason-
    13  ably interfere with the usual activities conducted in such building  and
    14  upon such determination, may cancel such designation.
    15    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.