Provides additional opportunity for new registrant by mail to indicate choice of party enrollment where original choice was omitted or void, by requiring board of elections to notify registrant of ineffective enrollment and ineligibility to vote in a party primary and providing a place for the registrant to enroll or decline to enroll in a party by mail.

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S2543-2013 Actions

• Jan 18, 2013: REFERRED TO ELECTIONS

S2543-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S2543

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the election law, in relation to failure
of new registrants to enroll

PURPOSE:    The  bill  authorizes  voters  whose applications are timely
mailed and received to vote in the next following  primary,  general  or
special election.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section  1:  Amends  Election  Law  subdivision  3  of section 5-210, as
amended by chapter 179 of the laws of 2005, to provide that an  applica-
tion  postmarked  by no later than fifteen days before the next primary,
general or special election, which is received no later  than  ten  days
before  such  election, or which is delivered in person at least 10 days
before such election to the county board  of  elections,  shall  entitle
such applicant to vote at such election.

Section 3: Provides for the Act to take effect immediately.

Under  current law, an application postmarked by twenty-five days before
the next primary, general or special  election,  which  is  received  at
least 20 days before such election, or delivered in person to the county
board  of  elections at least 10 days before a special election entitles
the applicant to vote in that special election. It fails to address  the
right  of  the applicant to vote in primary and general elections in the
same circumstances, which appears to be a technical error.

JUSTIFICATION:  Article II, Section 5 of the New York State Constitution
requires that in order to vote in an  election  a  voter's  registration
must  be  completed  at  least  ten days before such election. This bill
reduces the time period prior to an election during which a  person  can
register  to  vote and be entitled to vote to the constitutional ten day
minimum, and clarifies that when a registration is received at least ten
days before a primary, general or special election, the voter  is  enti-
tled to vote in that election.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  2009-2010: S.3996 - Passed Elections; Committed to
Rules,  Referred  back  to  Elections  2010-2011:  S. 1558 - Referred to
Elections

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it
has become a law.

S2543-2013 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    2543

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                              January 18, 2013
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sen. ADDABBO -- 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 failure of  new  regis-
    trants to enroll

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


    Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 5-210  of  the  election  law,  as
  amended  by  chapter  179  of  the  laws  of 2005, is amended to read as
  follows:

    9. The county board of elections shall, promptly and in any event, not
  later than twenty-one days after receipt by it of the application, veri-
  fy the identity of the applicant. In order to do so, the county board of
  elections shall utilize the information provided in the application  and
  shall  attempt  to verify such information with the information provided
  by the department of motor vehicles, social security administration  and
  any  other  lawful  available information source. If the county board of
  elections is unable to verify the identity of the applicant within twen-
  ty-one days of the receipt of the application, it shall immediately take
  steps to confirm that the information  provided  by  the  applicant  was
  accurately  utilized  by  such county board of elections, was accurately
  verified with other information sources and that no data entry error, or
  other similar type of  error,  occurred.  Following  completion  of  the
  preceding  steps,  the county board of elections shall mail (a) a notice
  of its approval, (b) a notice of its approval which  includes  an  indi-
  cation  that  such board has not yet been able to verify the identity of
  the applicant and a request for more information so that such  verifica-
  tion  may be completed, or (c) a notice of its rejection of the applica-
  tion to the  applicant  in  a  form  approved  by  the  state  board  of
  elections.  Notices  of  approval, notices of approval with requests for
  more information or notices of rejection shall be sent by nonforwardable
  first class [or] return postage guaranteed mail  on  which  is  endorsed

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD03145-01-3

 S. 2543                             2

  "ADDRESS  CORRECTION  REQUESTED"  and  which contains a request that any
  such mail received for persons not residing at the  address  be  dropped
  back  in  the  mail.  The  voter's  registration and enrollment shall be
  complete upon receipt of the application by the appropriate county board
  of  elections.  The  failure of a county board of elections to verify an
  applicant's identity shall not be the  basis  for  the  rejection  of  a
  voter's  application,  provided, however, that such verification failure
  shall be the basis for requiring county board of elections to  take  the
  additional verification steps provided by this chapter. The notice shall
  also advise the registrant of the date when his registration and enroll-
  ment is effective, of the date and the hours of the next regularly sche-
  duled  primary or general election in which he will be eligible to vote,
  of the location of the polling place of the election district  in  which
  he is or will be a qualified voter, whether such polling place is acces-
  sible  to  physically  handicapped voters, an indication that physically
  handicapped voters or voters who are ill or voters who will  be  out  of
  the  city  or  county on the day of the primary or general election, may
  obtain an absentee ballot and the phone  number  to  call  for  absentee
  ballot  applications,  the phone numbers to call for location of polling
  places, to obtain registration forms and the phone  number  to  call  to
  indicate  that  the  voter  is  willing  to  serve on election day as an
  inspector, poll clerk or interpreter. The notice of approval, notice  of
  approval  with request for more information or notice of rejection shall
  also advise the applicant to notify the board of elections if  there  is
  any  inaccuracy.  SUCH  NOTICE  SHALL  INCLUDE  A STATEMENT OF THE PARTY
  ENROLLMENT OF THE REGISTRANT, OR, IF NO PARTY WAS SELECTED BY THE REGIS-
  TRANT, A STATEMENT THAT THE REGISTRANT DID NOT ENROLL IN A PARTY AND  IS
  NOT  ELIGIBLE  TO VOTE IN A PARTY PRIMARY ELECTION, AND, INSTRUCTIONS ON
  HOW TO ENROLL IN A PARTY. The form of such mail  notification  shall  be
  prescribed  by the state board of elections and shall contain such other
  information and instructions as it may reasonably require to  carry  out
  the  purposes  of  this  section. The request for more information shall
  inform the voter that "THE FAILURE TO CONTACT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS AND
  CORRECT ANY INACCURACIES IN THE APPLICATION OR PROVIDE  REQUESTED  ADDI-
  TIONAL  INFORMATION  MAY  RESULT  IN A REQUEST FOR IDENTIFICATION AT THE
  POLLS IN ORDER TO CAST A VOTE ON A VOTING MACHINE." If  such  notice  is
  returned  undelivered  without  a new address, the board shall forthwith
  send such applicant a confirmation notice pursuant to the provisions  of
  section  5-712  of  this  article  and  place such applicant in inactive
  status. The state board of elections shall prepare  uniform  notices  by
  this  section  as  provided for in subdivision eight of section 3-102 of
  this chapter.
    S 2. Subdivision 3 of section 5-302 of the election law, as amended by
  chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:

    3. If marks are found in more than one of the boxes or circles  or  if
  no  marks  are  found  in any of the boxes or circles of any application
  form, the voter who used the application form shall be deemed not to  be
  enrolled,  and  the  words  blank  or void shall be entered in the space
  reserved on his registration poll record for the  name  of  a  political
  party  or in the computer files from which the computer generated regis-
  tration lists are prepared. However if such application form sets  forth
  the  address  of  prior registration and such prior registration had not
  been previously cancelled, the party enrollment, if any, which  is  part
  of such prior registration shall be entered in such space on such regis-
  tration  poll  record  or  in such computer files.  IF A NEW APPLICATION
  FORM DOES NOT CONTAIN A MARK FOR A PARTY ENROLLMENT, BUT, NO LATER  THAN

 S. 2543                             3

  THIRTY  DAYS  AFTER  THE REGISTRANT WAS SENT NOTICE OF THE LACK OF PARTY
  ENROLLMENT AS REQUIRED BY SUBDIVISION NINE  OF  SECTION  5-210  OF  THIS
  TITLE  AND  AT  LEAST  TWENTY-FIVE  DAYS  BEFORE A PRIMARY ELECTION, THE
  REGISTRANT MAKES A PARTY ENROLLMENT CHOICE ON THE CARD PROVIDED WITH THE
  NOTICE,  SIGNS  THE  AFFIRMATION  CONTAINED  THEREIN AND MAILS IT TO THE
  BOARD OF ELECTIONS, THEN THE REGISTRANT'S PARTY ENROLLMENT SHALL NOT  BE
  DEEMED  TO  BE A CHANGE OF ENROLLMENT AND SHALL BE EFFECTIVE ON THE DATE
  IT IS RECEIVED BY THE COUNTY BOARD  OF  ELECTIONS.  A  PARTY  ENROLLMENT
  MAILED  MORE THAN THIRTY DAYS AFTER MAILING OF THE NOTICE OF THE LACK OF
  ENROLLMENT SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE A CHANGE OF ENROLLMENT.
    S 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
  have become a law.