NY State Assembly Bill A408

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
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Actions

view actions (2)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2010	referred to election law
Jan 07, 2009	referred to election law

A408 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:: S4543
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §5-304, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: A5928, S56
2013-2014: A2017, S213
2015-2016: A5777, S570
2017-2018: A5943, A10842, S2940, S7109
2019-2020: A1423, S2338
2021-2022: A4190
2023-2024: A6626

A408 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Amends procedures for change of party enrollment to require post mark 25 days prior to a primary, general or special election.

A408 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

BILL NUMBER:A408

TITLE  OF BILL:  An act to amend the election law, in relation to change
of enrollment

PURPOSE: Under current law, when a  registered  voter  seeks  to  change
his/her  party  enrollment to a different party, enroll in a party (when
not previously enrolled in any party), or to end his/her enrollment in a
party, the effective change of that enrollment  is  deferred  until  the
first  Tuesday following the general election. As a result, voters wish-
ing to make such changes of enrollment may have to wait as long as thir-
teen months to see their changes of enrollment take effect.  Under  this
bill,  changes  of  enrollment  would  take effect twenty-five (25) days
after such changes were applied for. This new timeframe  would  coincide
with  the  deadlines for voter registration thus simplifying the process
for both voters and county boards of elections.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section I amends Subdivision 3 of  Section  5-303
of  the election law to make changes of enrollment effective twenty-five
(25) days after they are applied for. Section 2 sets the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:  Of paramount importance in a democratic society  is  not
just to be able to vote for the candidate of one's choice but also to be
able to select the candidates who appear on the ballot. In fact, in many
instances  this  selection is more significant than the general election
itself.

In New York, voters get to partake in this selection process by means of
primary elections. Unfortunately, . many voters discover that  they  are
unable to vote in the party primary of their choice because they are not
enrolled  in a party or are not enrolled in the party whose primary they
wish to vote in. Voters who seek changes  of  enrollment  discover  that
such  changes would not be effective until after the November elections,
not in time to be able to vote in the Presidential Primaries themselves.
For example, voters who wished to change their party enrollment for  any
of  the 2008 elections (including the February Presidential primary, the
September primary or the November election) would have had to apply  for
a  change of enrollment in early October of 2007, four months before the
Presidential primary.

Though voters are disenfranchised in greater numbers in the Presidential
primaries than in the annual September primaries, this problem is  expe-
rienced  by  voters  every  year  in the September primary.   Voters who
wished to change their party enrollment so that they could vote  in  the
2008  September  primary  would  have  also had to apply for a change of
enrollment in early October of  2007,  eleven  (II)  months  before  the
September  primary. This bill would ensure that voters are fully able to
partake in all steps of the electoral process; including  the  candidate
selection process.

LEGISLATIVE  HISTORY:  2008: A8035 (Kavanagh) - Election Law 2007: A8035
(Kavanagh) - Election Law 2007: A2972 (Grannis) - Election Law  2006:  A

1829  (Grannis)  -  Election  Law  2005: A 1829 (Grannis) - Election Law
2004: A 711 (Grannis) - Election Law 2003: A711 (Grannis) - Election Law
2002: A 7041 A (Grannis)  -  Election  Law  2001:  A  7041  (Grannis)  -
Election Law

FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE: None.

EFFECTIVE  DATE:  This  act  shall take effect sixty days after it shall
have become a law.

A408 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                   408

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. KAVANAGH -- read once and referred to the Commit-
  tee on Election Law

AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to change of enrollment

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

  Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 5-304  of  the  election  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  90  of  the  laws  of  1991, is amended to read as
follows:
  3. A change of enrollment received by the board of elections,  SHOWING
A  DATED  CANCELLATION  MARK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES POSTAL SERVICE, OR
CONTAINED IN AN ENVELOPE SHOWING SUCH A DATED CANCELLATION MARK WHICH IS
DATED not later than the twenty-fifth day before the  [general  election
shall be deposited in a sealed enrollment box, which shall not be opened
until  the first Tuesday following such general election. Such change of
enrollment shall be then removed and entered as provided in  this  arti-
cle] NEXT ENSUING PRIMARY, GENERAL, OR SPECIAL ELECTION, AND RECEIVED NO
LATER  THAN  THE  TWENTIETH  DAY  BEFORE  SUCH ELECTION, OR DELIVERED IN
PERSON TO SUCH COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS NOT LATER THAN  THE  TENTH  DAY
BEFORE  A  SPECIAL ELECTION, SHALL HAVE SUCH CHANGE OF ENROLLMENT EFFEC-
TIVE FOR SUCH ELECTION. ENROLLMENT CHANGES SHALL BE ENTERED AS  PROVIDED
IN  THIS  ARTICLE  AND WILL BE DEEMED TO TAKE EFFECT ON THE TWENTY-FIFTH
DAY AFTER SUCH  CHANGE  OF  ENROLLMENT  IS  RECEIVED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF
ELECTIONS OR IF THE CHANGE OF ENROLLMENT, OR THE ENVELOPE CONTAINING IT,
BEARS  A  DATED  CANCELLATION  MARK OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE,
SUCH CHANGE SHALL BE ENTERED AND WILL BE DEEMED TO TAKE  EFFECT  ON  THE
TWENTY-FIFTH  DAY  AFTER  THE  DATE  OF SUCH MARK, WHICHEVER IS EARLIER;
EXCEPT THAT NO CHANGE WILL TAKE EFFECT SOONER  THAN  THE  TWENTIETH  DAY
AFTER THE RECEIPT OF SUCH CHANGE OF ENROLLMENT BY THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
EXCEPT WITH REGARD TO SPECIAL ELECTIONS AS PROVIDED IN THIS SUBDIVISION.
  S  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD00483-01-9

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The New York State Senate

assembly Bill A408

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

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A408 (ACTIVE) - Details

A408 (ACTIVE) - Summary

A408 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

A408 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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assembly Bill A408

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Sponsored By

KAVANAGH

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Your Voice

Actions

A408 (ACTIVE) - Details

A408 (ACTIVE) - Summary

A408 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

A408 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments