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§ 75. [Notice of voting] VOTING rights. 1. Upon the [discharge from]
ADMISSION OF AN INMATE TO a STATE OR LOCAL correctional facility [of any
person whose maximum sentence of imprisonment has expired or upon a
person's discharge from community supervision,] the department shall
notify such [person] INMATE of his or her right to vote and, UPON THE
REQUEST OF SUCH INMATE, provide such [person] INMATE with a form of
application for voter registration together with written information
distributed by the board of elections on the importance and the mechan-
ics of voting, OR WITH ACCESS TO THE ELECTRONIC VOTER REGISTRATION
TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM DESCRIBED IN TITLE FIVE OF ARTICLE 8 OF THE ELECTION
LAW. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SHALL ENSURE THAT
ALL COMPLETED VOTER REGISTRATIONS ARE:
(A) PROPERLY AND IMMEDIATELY SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO THE APPLICA-
BLE BOARD OF ELECTIONS IF THE ELECTRONIC VOTER REGISTRATION TRANSMITTAL
SYSTEM IS UTILIZED; OR
(B) DEPOSITED WITH THE UNITED STATES POST OFFICE WITHIN THREE DAYS OF
BEING FILLED OUT BY AN INMATE IF REGISTRATION IS SUBMITTED ON PAPER.
2. EACH INMATE WHO IS QUALIFIED TO VOTE AND REGISTERED TO VOTE MAY
APPLY TO HIS OR HER COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT IN
THE MANNER PROVIDED FOR BY THE MAIL PROVISIONS OF SECTION 8-400 OF THE
ELECTION LAW. THERE SHALL BE A PRESUMPTION THAT INMATES ARE QUALIFIED
TO VOTE AND REGISTERED TO VOTE. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY SHALL ENSURE THAT EACH SUCH APPLICATION FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT
IS DEPOSITED WITH THE UNITED STATES POST OFFICE WITHIN THREE DAYS OF
BEING FILLED OUT BY AN INMATE.
3. EACH ABSENTEE BALLOT RECEIVED AT THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SHALL BE
DELIVERED TO THE INMATE TO WHOM IT IS ADDRESSED WITHIN TWO DAYS OF
RECEIPT AT THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CORREC-
TIONAL FACILITY SHALL ENSURE THAT EACH ABSENTEE BALLOT IS DEPOSITED WITH
THE UNITED STATES POST OFFICE WITHIN THREE DAYS OF BEING FILLED OUT BY
THE INMATE TO WHOM IT HAS BEEN ADDRESSED.
4. VOTER REGISTRATIONS, APPLICATIONS FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS AND ABSEN-
TEE BALLOTS SHALL BE PROCESSED BY THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SEPARATELY
FROM OTHER INMATE MAIL. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY LAW, RULE OR REGULATION TO
THE CONTRARY, NO PERSON SHALL OPEN ANY CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN AN INMATE
AND A BOARD OF ELECTIONS, INCLUDING AN INMATE'S VOTER REGISTRATION,
APPLICATION FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT OR FILLED OUT ABSENTEE BALLOT.
INMATES SHALL BE PERMITTED TO CAST THEIR VOTES PRIVATELY AND TO SEAL ALL
ENVELOPES ASSOCIATED WITH AN ABSENTEE BALLOT WITHOUT INTERFERENCE.
§ 3. Section 5-106 of the election law, subdivision 2 as amended by
chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 234
of the laws of 1976 and subdivision 6 as amended by chapter 82 of the
laws of 1982, is amended to read as follows:
§ 5-106. Qualifications of voters; reasons for exclusion.
1. No person who shall receive, accept, or offer to receive, or pay,
offer or promise to pay, contribute, offer or promise to contribute to
another, to be paid or used, any money or any other valuable thing as a
compensation or reward for the giving or withholding a vote at an
election, or for registering or refraining from registering as a voter,
or who shall make any promise to influence the giving or withholding of
any such vote or registration, or who shall make or become directly or
indirectly interested in any bet or wager depending upon the result of
an election, shall vote at such election.
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
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citizenship by the governor, or his maximum sentence of imprisonment has
expired, or he has been discharged from parole. 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.
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.
5. The provisions of subdivisions two, three and four of this section
shall not apply if the person so convicted is not sentenced to either
death or imprisonment, or if the execution of a sentence of imprisonment
is suspended.
6.] No person who has been adjudged incompetent by order of a court of
competent judicial authority shall have the right to register for or
vote at any election in this state unless thereafter he shall have been
adjudged competent pursuant to law.
§ 4. Subdivision 3 of section 5-210 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 255 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
3. Completed application forms, when received by any board of
elections and, with respect to application forms promulgated by the
federal election commission, when received by the state board of
elections, or showing a dated cancellation mark of the United States
Postal Service or contained in an envelope showing such a dated cancel-
lation mark which is not later than the twenty-fifth day before the next
ensuing primary, general or special election, and received no later than
the twentieth day before such election, or delivered in person to such
board of elections not later than the tenth day before a special
election, shall entitle the applicant to vote in such election, if he or
she is otherwise qualified, provided, however, such applicant shall not
vote on a voting machine until his or her identity is verified. Any
board of elections receiving an application form from a person who does
not reside in its jurisdiction but who does reside elsewhere in the
state of New York, shall forthwith forward such application form to the
proper board of elections; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT THE RESIDENCE OF A
PERSON INCARCERATED IN A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, AS DEFINED IN SECTION
TWO OF THE CORRECTION LAW, OR IN A COUNTY JAIL, IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE
JURISDICTION WHERE A PERSON IS INCARCERATED UNLESS SUCH PERSON HAD
RESIDED IN THAT JURISDICTION PRIOR TO INCARCERATION, AND ANY SUCH PERSON
MAY APPLY TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE JURISDICTION WHERE THAT PERSON HAS
PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED A FIXED AND PRINCIPAL HOME TO WHICH THE PERSON
INTENDS TO RETURN. Each board of elections shall make an entry on each
such form of the date it is received by such board.
§ 5. Subdivision 1 of section 5-400 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 3
of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
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1. A voter's registration, including the registration of a voter in
inactive status, shall be cancelled if, since the time of his OR HER
last registration, he OR SHE:
(a) Moved his or her residence outside the state.
(b) [Was convicted of a felony disqualifying him from voting pursuant
to the provisions of section 5-106 of this article.
(c)] Has been adjudicated an incompetent.
[(d)] (C) Refused to take a challenge oath.
[(e)] (D) Has died.
[(f)] (E) Did not vote in any election conducted by the board of
elections during the period ending with the second general election at
which candidates for federal office are on the ballot after his OR HER
name was placed in inactive status and for whom the board of elections
did not, during such period, in any other way, receive any information
that such voter still resides in the same county or city.
[(g)] (F) Personally requested to have his OR HER name removed from
the list of registered voters.
[(h)] (G) For any other reason, is no longer qualified to vote as
provided in this chapter.
§ 6. Paragraph b of subdivision 4 of section 5-708 of the election
law, as added by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as
follows:
b. The state board shall arrange such notices and the names received
pursuant to the other provisions of this section by county of residence
and transmit such notices [and any notices of conviction for a felony
received from a United States attorney] to the appropriate board of
elections.
§ 7. Subdivision 3 of section 7-123 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 104 of the laws of 2010, and the opening paragraph as amended by
chapter 411 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
3. There shall be three envelopes for each military absentee ballot
issued when the military voter's preferred method of transmission is by
mail: the inner affirmation envelope into which a voter places his or
her voted ballot, the outer envelope which shall be addressed to the
absentee voter, and the mailing envelope which is addressed to the coun-
ty board of elections. The board of elections shall furnish an inner
affirmation envelope with each military ballot upon which envelope shall
be printed:
BALLOT FOR MILITARY VOTER
AFFIRMATION
I swear or affirm that:
(a) I am a member of the uniformed services or merchant marine on
active duty or an eligible spouse, parent, child or dependent of such a
member, and
(b) I am a United States citizen, at least eighteen years of age (or
will be by the day of the election), eligible to vote in the requested
jurisdiction, and
(c) I have [neither been convicted of a felony or other disqualifying
offense nor] NOT been adjudicated mentally incompetent, or if so, my
voting rights have been reinstated, and
(d) I am not registering, requesting a ballot, or voting in any other
jurisdiction in the United States, and
(e) My signature and date below indicate when I completed this docu-
ment, and
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(f) The information on this form is true and complete to the best of
my knowledge.
I understand that a material misstatement of fact in the completion of
this document may constitute grounds for conviction of a crime.
Date .......... 20....
................................
Signature or mark of voter
................................
Signature of Witness (required
only if voter does not sign his
or her own name)
................................
Address of Witness
§ 8. Subdivision 2 of section 7-124 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 104 of the laws of 2010, and the opening and closing paragraphs
as amended by chapter 411 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
2. There shall be three envelopes for each special federal absentee
ballot issued by mail: the inner affirmation envelope into which a voter
places his or her voted ballot, the outer envelope which shall be
addressed to the absentee voter, and the mailing envelope which is
addressed to the county board of elections. The board of elections shall
furnish an inner affirmation envelope with each special federal ballot
upon which envelope shall be printed:
I swear or affirm that:
(a) I am a United States citizen residing outside the United States,
and
(b) I am at least eighteen years of age (or will be by the day of the
election), eligible to vote in the requested jurisdiction, and
(c) I have [neither been convicted of a felony or other disqualifying
offense nor] NOT been adjudicated mentally incompetent, or if so, my
voting rights have been reinstated, and
(d) I am not qualified to register, request a ballot, or vote in any
other jurisdiction in the United States, and
(e) My signature and date below indicate when I completed this docu-
ment, and
(f) The information on this form is true and complete to the best of
my knowledge.
I understand that a material misstatement of fact in the completion of
this document may constitute grounds for conviction of a crime.
Date.................20..... .....................................
Signature or mark of voter
.....................................
Signature of Witness (required only
if voter does not sign his or her own
name)
.....................................
Address of Witness
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§ 9. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 8-400 of the election
law, as amended by chapter 139 of the laws of 2020, is amended 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.
§ 10. 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 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.
§ 11. Subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section
8-400 of the election law, as amended by chapter 63 of the laws of
2010, is amended to read as follows:
(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.
§ 12. Subdivision 5 of section 8-504 of the election law is REPEALED.
§ 13. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 and subparagraph (iv) of para-
graph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 15-120 of the election law, as
added by chapter 289 of the laws of 2014, are amended 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.
(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.
§ 14. Subdivisions 10 of section 1057-a of the New York city charter
are REPEALED.
§ 15. The opening paragraph of section 1057-a of the New York city
charter, as amended by local law number 80 of the city of New York for
the year 2020, 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 are hereby designated as participating voter
registration agencies: The administration for children's services, the
business integrity commission, the city clerk, the civilian complaint
review board, the commission on human rights, community boards, the
department of small business services, the department for the aging, the
department of citywide administrative services, the department of city
planning, the department of consumer and worker protection, the depart-
ment of correction, the department of cultural affairs, the department
of environmental protection, the department of finance, the department
of health and mental hygiene, the department of homeless services, the
department of housing preservation and development, the department of
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parks and recreation, the department of probation, the department of
records and information services, the taxi and limousine commission, the
department of transportation, the department of youth and community
development, the fire department, and the human resources adminis-
tration. Participating agencies shall include a mandate in all new or
renewed agreements with those subcontractors having regular contact with
the public in the daily administration of their business to follow the
guidelines of this section. Such participating agencies shall be
required to offer voter registration forms to all persons together with
written applications for services, renewal or recertification for
services and change of address relating to such services, in the same
language as such application, renewal, recertification or change of
address form where practicable; provided however that this section shall
not apply to services that must be provided to prevent actual or poten-
tial danger to the life, health, or safety of any individual or of the
public. Such agencies shall provide assistance to applicants in complet-
ing voter registration forms, including the section of the form allowing
for registration to become an organ donor, and in cases in which such an
agency would provide assistance with its own form, such agency shall
provide the same degree of assistance with regard to the voter registra-
tion and organ donor forms as is provided with regard to the completion
of its own form, if so requested. [As part of such assistance, such
agencies shall also, upon request by an applicant who identifies himself
or herself as being on parole and when practically feasible, check
publicly available information to inform such applicant if a restoration
of their right to vote has been granted, provided that such assistance
may be provided by a person other than the person to whom the request
was made and further provided that such assistance shall not be consid-
ered an endorsement of the accuracy of any publicly available informa-
tion not maintained by the city.] Such agencies shall also receive and
transmit the completed application form from any applicants who request
to have such form transmitted to the board of elections for the city of
New York.
§ 16. The state board of elections is directed to revise all paperwork
utilized for voter registration, and for the process of applying for and
voting by absentee ballot to remove all references to felonies or the
limitation of the right to vote due to conviction of a felony.
§ 17. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however,
that the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 8-400
of the election law made by section nine of this act shall be subject to
the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 2 of
chapter 139 of the laws of 2020, as amended, when upon such date the
provisions of section ten shall take effect. Effective immediately, the
addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
to be made and completed on or before such date.