STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8827 IN SENATE March 19, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- 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 requiring any student graduating from a high school in New York state be provided with a voter registration form 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 5-232 2 to read as follows: 3 § 5-232. Graduating high school students. 1. In addition to any other 4 method of voter registration provided for in this article, every quali- 5 fied person shall be provided with an application for registration and 6 enrollment upon graduation from any public or private high school within 7 the state. Such application shall be in the same form as prescribed by 8 section 5-210 of this title. 9 2. A school district in which qualified persons are graduating shall 10 transmit any completed application for registration form to the appro- 11 priate board of elections not later than ten days after receipt except 12 that all such completed applications and forms received by the depart- 13 ment after the twentieth day prior to an election and by the twelfth day 14 before such election shall be transmitted in such manner and at such 15 time as to assure their receipt by such board of elections as soon as 16 practicable and not later than the tenth day before such election. All 17 transmittals shall include original signatures. 18 3. Completed application forms received by a school district not later 19 than the twelfth day before the next ensuing primary, general or special 20 election and transmitted by such school district to the appropriate 21 board of elections so that they are received not later than the tenth 22 day before such election shall entitle the applicant to vote in such 23 election provided the board determines that the applicant is otherwise 24 qualified. 25 4. Disclosure of voter registration information, including a declina- 26 tion to register, by a school district, its agents or employees, for 27 other than voter registration purposes, shall be deemed an unwarranted EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14546-01-4S. 8827 2 1 invasion of personal privacy pursuant to the provisions of subdivision 2 two of section eighty-nine of the public officers law and shall consti- 3 tute a violation of this chapter. 4 5. Application forms shall be processed by the board of elections in 5 the manner prescribed by section 5-210 of this title. The board shall 6 send the appropriate notice of approval or rejection as required by 7 subdivision nine of such section 5-210. 8 6. Strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment shall 9 be maintained and all persons seeking voter registration forms and 10 information shall be advised that government services are not condi- 11 tioned on being registered to vote. 12 7. No statement shall be made nor any action taken to discourage the 13 applicant from registering to vote. 14 8. The state board shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be 15 necessary to carry out the requirements of this section. The board shall 16 also adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to require 17 county boards and the department of education to provide the state board 18 with such information and data as the board deems necessary to assess 19 compliance with this section and to compile such statistics as may be 20 required by the federal elections commission. 21 9. The state board shall develop and distribute public information and 22 promotional materials relating to the purposes and implementation of 23 this program. 24 10. The state board shall prepare and distribute to the department of 25 education written instructions as to the implementation of the program 26 and shall be responsible for establishing training programs for employ- 27 ees of the department of education and each school district involved in 28 such program. 29 11. The commissioner of education shall take all actions which are 30 necessary and proper for the implementation of this section. The commis- 31 sioner of education shall designate one person within the department as 32 the department voter registration coordinator who will, under the direc- 33 tion of the state board of elections, be responsible for the voter 34 registration program in such department. 35 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 36 the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the 37 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary 38 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized 39 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.