BILL NUMBER:A10517

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the election law and the legislative law,
in relation to use of
a person's e-mail address

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
It would permit a
voter to include
his or her e-mail address on the voter registration card.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
§1. Of the bill
provides that
subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election law is changed to
allow the option of including an applicant's e-mail address and a box
that must be checked, in which the registrant agrees to have general,
but not person-specific correspondence or newsletters from the state
legislature sent electronically to the e-mail address instead of by
regular mail.

§2. Amends the election law by adding a new section 8-301, which would
allow the registration poll record form to utilize a person's e-mail
address at the first general election occurring on or after the
              

effective date. Each election thereafter the board of elections may
attach a form to the registration poll record that would allow a
person to submit their e-mail address and indicate that they agree to
receive general, but not person-specific correspondence or
newsletters from the state legislature sent electronically to the
e-mail address instead of by regular mail.

§3. Amends the legislative law by adding section 32-b to allow
newsletters and mailings to be made electronically to any person in
the members' district who has agreed to receive such correspondence
from a member of the legislature via e-mail. The person will only
receive one mailing and will not receive a second mailing by regular
mail.

JUSTIFICATION:
It has been reported that over 100
million adults in
the united States, or half of the country's adult population, now use
the internet. The number of United States Internet users is projected
to reach 177 million within a few years. This bill would allow the
New York State legislature to replace the bulk of postal mail sent
with electronic mail. More than that, by simultaneously creating a
website for the district, the use of this technology would allow
constituents to "electronically vote" on key issues, and respond to
surveys that better support the formation of legislative policy. The
other benefits of this bill to members would be the savings on

postage, printing costs, the ease of use for staff members, the
timely manner in which constituents could be reached, and the
environmental savings that it would have through the generation of
less waste.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2008: A.5305; Held for consideration in Election Law
2007: A.5305; Referred to Election Law
2006: A.3834; Held for consideration in Election Law
2005: A.3834; Referred to Election Law
2004: A.6481; Held for consideration in Election Law
2003: A.6481; Referred to Election Law
2002: A.5112; Held for consideration in Election Law
2001: A.5112; Referred to Election Law
2000: A.10290; Held for consideration in Election Law

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This  act shall take effect immediately, provided, that section three of
this act shall take effect on January 1, 2001.