BILL NUMBER:A10388
TITLE OF BILL: An act amend the election law, in relation to poll site
marking utensils
PURPOSE: This bill allows the county boards of elections to provide
appropriate marking utensils to mark ballots.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill amends Election Law
section 8-102 subdivision 1 paragraph (g) changing the language from
"voting booth" to "privacy booth" and removes the requirement that black
lead pencils be supplied for voters, and provides instead that the coun-
ty boards supply the voter with pens or appropriate marking utensils.
Section 2 of the bill amends Election Law section 8-312 subdivision 1 to
allow county boards of elections to provide appropriate marking utensils
for voters to use when marking ballots.
Section 3 of the bill sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION: Under the existing law, voters are required to be
supplied and mark their ballots with a blue or black ink pen, or a black
lead pencil, which may not be the most suitable marking instruments for
the new paper ballots, or the easiest for the new optical scan machines
to accurately read.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
10388
I N A S S E M B L Y
March 23, 2010
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KAVANAGH -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Election Law
AN ACT amend the election law, in relation to poll site marking utensils
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 8-102 of the
election law is amended to read as follows:
(g) See that the [voting] PRIVACY booths are supplied with [pencils
having black lead only] PENS OR OTHER APPROPRIATE MARKING UTENSILS
SUPPLIED BY THE COUNTY BOARDS.
S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 8-312 of the election law is amended to
read as follows:
1. On receiving his OR HER ballot, the voter forthwith and without
leaving the inclosed space shall retire alone, unless he OR SHE be enti-
tled to assistance in voting, to an unoccupied voting booth and mark his
OR HER ballot, using a pen [having blue or black ink or a pencil having
black lead] OR OTHER APPROPRIATE MARKING UTENSIL SUPPLIED BY THE COUNTY
BOARD. He OR SHE shall not occupy a booth more than five minutes if
other voters are waiting to occupy it. If the voter wrongly marks,
defaces or tears a ballot or one of a set of ballots, he OR SHE may
successively obtain others, one set at a time, not exceeding three sets
in all, upon returning to the inspectors or clerks each set of ballots
already received.
S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15893-01-0
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