A5154-2011 Actions

• Jan 3, 2012: enacting clause stricken
• Feb 14, 2011: referred to correction

A5154-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 
                                         5154
 2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 I N  ASSEMBLY
 February 14, 2011
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. KAVANAGH, P. RIVERA -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.
 of A. LINARES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Correction
 

AN ACT to amend the correction law and the election law, in relation  to
 absentee voting by inmates convicted of non-violent felonies
 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section 1. The correction law is amended by adding a new  section  510
 to read as follows:

 

S 510. ABSENTEE VOTING BY QUALIFIED INMATES; NON-VIOLENT FELONY OFFEN
 DERS.  1. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, OR HIS OR HER
 DESIGNEE, SHALL INFORM EACH INMATE CONVICTED  OF  A  NON-VIOLENT  FELONY
 OFFENSE,  AT SUCH FACILITY OF THEIR RIGHT TO REGISTER TO VOTE.  IN ADDI
 TION, SUCH NOTICE SHALL BE POSTED IN A  PROMINENT  PLACE  WHERE  INMATES
 CONGREGATE  AND  PRINTED  IN  BLOCK  LETTERS.  SUCH  POSTED NOTICE SHALL
 INCLUDE QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED TO EXERCISE THE RIGHT TO  VOTE,  AND  OF
 THE  AVAILABILITY  AT  THE  LOCAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITY OF ASSISTANCE TO
 REGISTER TO VOTE, REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION,  AND  TO  VOTE
 VIA  ABSENTEE BALLOT. SUCH SUPERINTENDENT, OR HIS OR HER DESIGNEE, SHALL
 ASSIST ANY OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE INMATES IN REGISTERING TO VOTE IN THE SAME
 MANNER AND EXTENT AS  THE  AGENCIES  LISTED  IN  SECTION  5-211  OF  THE
 ELECTION  LAW,  ASSIST  ANY  OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE INMATES IN REQUESTING AN
 ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 8-400  OF  THE  ELECTION
 LAW,  AND  ASSIST  ANY  OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE INMATES IN VOTING BY ABSENTEE
 BALLOT PURSUANT TO SECTION 8-407 OF THE ELECTION LAW.
 2. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, NON-VIOLENT FELONY OFFENSE SHALL MEAN
 AND INCLUDE ANY FELONY NOT DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION ONE OF  SECTION  70.02
 OF THE PENAL LAW.
 

S  2. 

Section 8-406 of the election law, as amended by chapter 296 of
 the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows:

 

S 8-406. Absentee ballots, delivery of. If the board shall  find  that
 the  applicant  is a qualified voter of the election district containing
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD07362-01-1
 
       A. 5154                             2
 his residence as stated in his  statement  and  that  his  statement  is
 sufficient,  it shall, as soon as practicable after it shall have deter
 mined his right thereto, mail to him at an address designated by him, or
 deliver  to him, or to any person designated for such purpose in writing
 by him, at the office of the board, such an absentee voter's  ballot  or
 set of ballots and an envelope therefor. If the ballot or ballots are to
 be  sent  outside of the United States to a country other than Canada or
 Mexico, such ballot or ballots shall be sent by air mail. However, if an
 applicant who is eligible for an absentee ballot  is  a  resident  of  a
 facility  operated  or  licensed  by,  or under the jurisdiction of, the
 department of mental hygiene, or a resident of a facility defined  as  a
 nursing  home  or  residential health care facility pursuant to subdivi
 sions two and three of section two thousand eight  hundred  one  of  the
 public  health  law, or a resident of a hospital or other facility oper
 ated by the Veteran's Administration of the United States, OR A  CORREC
 TIONAL FACILITY, such absentee ballot need not be so mailed or delivered
 to  any  such applicant but, may be delivered to the voter in the manner
 prescribed by section 8-407 of this [chapter] TITLE if such facility  is
 located in the county or city in which such voter is eligible to vote.
 

S  3.  The  section  heading and subdivision 1 of section 8-407 of the
 election law, the section heading as added by chapter 296 of the laws of
 1988 and subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 195 of the  laws  of  2001,
 are amended to read as follows:

 Voting  by residents of nursing homes, residential health care facili
 ties, facilities operated or licensed, or under the jurisdiction of, the
 department of mental hygiene or hospitals or facilities operated by  the
 Veteran's Administration of the United States, OR A CORRECTIONAL FACILI
 TY.  1.  The  board  of  elections of a county or city in which there is
 located at least one facility operated or licensed, or under the  juris
 diction of, the department of mental hygiene, or a facility defined as a
 nursing  home  or  residential health care facility pursuant to subdivi
 sions two and three of section two thousand eight  hundred  one  of  the
 public health law or an adult care facility subject to the provisions of
 title  two of article seven of the social services law, or a hospital or
 other facility operated by the Veteran's Administration  of  the  United
 States,  OR  A  CORRECTIONAL  FACILITY AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION FOUR OF
 SECTION TWO OF THE CORRECTION LAW shall provide that residents  of  each
 such  facility  for  which  such  board has received twenty-five or more
 applications for absentee ballots from voters who are eligible  to  vote
 by  absentee ballot in such city or county at such election, may vote by
 absentee ballot only in the manner provided for in  this  section.  Such
 board  may,  in  its discretion, provide that the procedure described in
 this subdivision shall be applicable to  all  such  facilities  in  such
 county  or city without regard to the number of absentee ballot applica
 tions received from the residents of any such facility.
 

S 4. The opening paragraph of section 5-211 of the  election  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  200  of  the  laws  of 1996, is amended to read as
 follows:

 Each agency designated as a participating agency under the  provisions
 of this section shall implement and administer a program of distribution
 of  voter registration forms pursuant to the provisions of this section.
 The following offices which provide  public  assistance  and/or  provide
 state funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons
 with  disabilities are hereby designated as voter registration agencies:

 designated as the state agencies which provide public assistance are the
 department of [social services] FAMILY ASSISTANCE and the department  of
 
       A. 5154                             3
 health.   Also designated as public assistance agencies are all agencies
 of local government that provide such assistance.  Designated  as  state
 agencies  that  provide programs primarily engaged in providing services
 to  people with disabilities are the department of labor, office for the
 aging, division of veterans' affairs, office of mental health, office of
 vocational and educational services for individuals  with  disabilities,
 commission  on  quality  of  care  for the mentally disabled, office [of
 mental retardation and]  FOR  PEOPLE  WITH  developmental  disabilities,
 commission  for the blind and visually handicapped, office of alcoholism
 and substance abuse services, the office of the advocate for  the  disa
 bled  and all offices which administer programs established or funded by
 such agencies. Additional state agencies designated as  voter  registra
 tion offices are the department of state [and], the division of workers'
 compensation, THE OFFICE OF PROBATION AND CORRECTIONAL ALTERNATIVES, THE
 DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTIONAL  SERVICES  AND THE DIVISION OF PAROLE. Such
 agencies shall be required to offer voter registration forms to  persons
 upon  initial  application  for services, renewal or recertification for
 services and change of address relating to such services. Such  agencies
 shall  also  be  responsible  for  providing assistance to applicants in
 completing voter registration  forms,  receiving  and  transmitting  the
 completed  application  form  from  all applicants who wish to have such
 form transmitted to the appropriate board of elections. The state  board
 of  elections  shall, together with representatives of the department of
 defense, develop and  implement  procedures  for  including  recruitment
 offices  of  the armed forces of the United States as voter registration
 offices when such offices are so designated by federal law.   The  state
 board  shall  also  make  request  of  the United States Immigration and
 Naturalization Service to include applications for registration by  mail
 with any materials which are given to new citizens.  All institutions of
 the  state  university  of New York and the city university of New York,
 shall, at the beginning of the school year, and again in  January  of  a
 year  in  which  the  president  of  the United States is to be elected,
 provide an application for registration to each  student  in  each  such
 institution.    The state board of elections may, by regulation, grant a
 waiver from any or all of the requirements of this section to any office
 or program of an agency, if it determines that it is  not  feasible  for
 such office or program to administer such requirement.
 

S  5.  Subdivisions  2,  3 and 4 of section 5-106 of the election law,
 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, are amended
 to read as follows:

 2. No person who has been convicted of a felony pursuant to  the  laws
 of  this  state,  shall  have  the  right to register for or vote at any
 election unless he shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of
 citizenship by the governor, or his maximum sentence of imprisonment has
 expired, [or] he has been discharged from parole, OR HE IS CONVICTED  OF
 A  NON-VIOLENT  FELONY OFFENSE, AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION
 FIVE HUNDRED TEN OF THE CORRECTION LAW.    The  governor,  however,  may
 attach  as  a  condition  to  any  such pardon a provision that any such
 person shall not have the right of suffrage until  it  shall  have  been
 separately restored to him.
 3.  No  person who has been convicted in a federal court, of a felony,
 or a crime or offense which would constitute a felony under the laws  of
 this state, shall have the right to register for or vote at any election
 unless he shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of citizen
 ship  by  the president of the United States, or his maximum sentence of
 imprisonment has expired, [or] he has been discharged from parole, OR HE
 
       A. 5154                             4
 IS CONVICTED OF A CRIME  THAT  WOULD  CONSTITUTE  A  NON-VIOLENT  FELONY
 OFFENSE,  AS  DEFINED  BY SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED TEN OF
 THE CORRECTION LAW.
 4.  No  person  who has been convicted in another state for a crime or
 offense which would constitute a felony under the  laws  of  this  state
 shall  have  the  right  to register for or vote at any election in this
 state unless he shall have been pardoned or restored to  the  rights  of
 citizenship by the governor or other appropriate authority of such other
 state,  or his maximum sentence has expired, [or] he has been discharged
 from parole, OR HE IS CONVICTED OF A CRIME THAT WOULD CONSTITUTE A  NON
 VIOLENT  FELONY  OFFENSE  AS  DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION FIVE
 HUNDRED TEN OF THE CORRECTION LAW.
 

S 6. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 8-400 of  the  election
 law,  as amended by chapter 63 of the laws of 2010, is amended and a new
 paragraph (e) is added to read as follows:

 (d) absent from his or her voting  residence  because  he  or  she  is
 detained  in  jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial, or
 confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other  than
 a  felony,  provided that he or she is qualified to vote in the election
 district of his or her residence[.]; OR
 (E) ABSENT FROM HIS VOTING RESIDENCE BECAUSE HE IS INCARCERATED  IN  A
 CORRECTIONAL  FACILITY,  FOR  CONVICTION  OF  A  NON-VIOLENT  FELONY, AS
 DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED TEN OF THE CORRECTION
 LAW, PROVIDED HE IS QUALIFIED TO VOTE IN THE ELECTION  DISTRICT  OF  HIS
 LAST KNOWN RESIDENCE OTHER THAN THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.
 

S  7.  Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8-400 of the
 election law, as amended by chapter 63 of the laws of 2010, are  amended
 to read as follows:

 (a)  Applicant's  full  name,  date  of  birth, and residence address,
 including the street and number, if any, rural delivery route,  if  any,
 mailing  address  if different from the residence address and his or her
 town or city and an address to which the ballot shall be mailed,  OR  IN
 THE  EVENT OF INCARCERATION IN A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY FOR CONVICTION OF
 A NON-VIOLENT FELONY OFFENSE, AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION TWO  OF  SECTION
 FIVE  HUNDRED  TEN OF THE CORRECTION LAW, THE RESIDENCE ADDRESS SHALL BE
 THE APPLICANT'S LAST KNOWN ADDRESS.
 (c) A statement, as appropriate, that on the day of such election  the
 applicant  expects  in  good faith to be in one of the following catego
 ries:

 (i) absent from the county of his or her residence, or if  a  resident
 of the city of New York absent from said city; provided, however, if the
 applicant  expects  to be absent from such county or city for a duration
 covering more than one election and seeks an absentee  ballot  for  each
 election,  he  or  she  shall  state the dates when he or she expects to
 begin and end such absence; or
 (ii) unable to appear at a polling place because of illness  or  phys
 ical  disability  or  duties  related to the primary care of one or more
 individuals who are ill or physically disabled; or
 (iii) an inmate or patient of a veteran's administration hospital; or
 (iv) detained in jail awaiting action by  a  grand  jury  or  awaiting
 trial  or  confined  in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense
 other than a felony and stating the place where he or she is so detained
 or confined[.]; OR
 (V) ABSENT FROM THE COUNTY OF HIS OR HER RESIDENCE, OR IF  A  RESIDENT
 OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW YORK ABSENT FROM SAID CITY, BECAUSE OF HIS OR HER
 INCARCERATION IN A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY FOR HIS OR HER CONVICTION OF  A
 
       A. 5154                             5
 NON-VIOLENT  FELONY  OFFENSE,  AS  DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION
 FIVE HUNDRED TEN OF THE CORRECTION LAW.
 

S 8. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend
 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen
 tation of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on  or
 before such effective date.

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