NY State Assembly Bill 2009-A9385

Assembly Bill A9385

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Requires county boards to create systems for processing electronic requests for absentee ballots

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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

2009-A9385 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Assembly Election Law
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §8-400, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: A5895
2013-2014: A3796
2015-2016: A5602

2009-A9385 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires county boards to create systems for processing electronic requests for absentee ballots.

2009-A9385 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:A9385

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the election law, in relation to requir-
ing county boards to create systems for processing electronic requests
for absentee ballots

PURPOSE: This bill modernizes election law by requiring boards of
elections to provide an electronic system for voters to apply for absen-
tee ballots.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  Section 1 amends part (d) subsection 2 of
Section 400 of Article VIII of New York's election law to permit
requests for an absentee ballot by a communication other than a
"letter," and replaces the signature requirement with the requirement
that applications be signed or certified.

Section 2 amends Section 400 of Article VIII of New York's election law
to add a subdivision (11), requiring county boards of elections to offer
voters a chance to apply for an absentee ballot by electronic form on
the board's website, submitted over a secure connection. It further
defines the requirements that such electronic systems should meet to
ensure election integrity, and requires boards of elections to notify
voters of an unsuccessful application. The new subdivision also provides
that the method of the application's communication should affect neither
the information requirements of the application, nor be presumed to
alter the constitutional or statutory requirements that voters must meet

before being issued an absentee ballot.

Section 3 provides for severability. Section 4 provides the effective
date.

JUSTIFICATION:  Under current New York law, voters can register to vote
by absentee ballot by obtaining a form, and mailing it to the board of
elections.  Forms are generally available for download on the state
board of elections website, as well as many local board of elections'
sites.  While this is a step forward, it should be the policy of New
York to provide voters who will be absent from the state on election day
with as many opportunities as possible to obtain and submit a valid
absentee ballot application.

Therefore, this bill would permit voters to request an absentee ballot
by completing a form provided on websites maintained by county boards of
elections. The bill also permits a voter to sign their absentee ballot
application electronically. E-signatures today see wide implementation
in electronic commerce, and New York law recognizes their validity when
parties seek to use them (N.Y. State Tech. Code sections 303-309, 2009).
Boards of elections are not required to use New York's corresponding
e-signature regulatory regime - they need only implement reasonable
guarantees of security - but may at their discretion.

Other jurisdictions have experimented with electronic requests for
absentee ballots. Delaware permits requests by electronic mail (Delaware

Code title 15, section 5503, 2009). Similarly, election authorities in
Maine have the option of accepting electronic applications, which more
than 180 cities and towns have already implemented (Maine Revised Stat-
utes, title 21A, section 753-A(6), 2009).

Finally, the bill provides that it shall not be construed to alter the
requirements a voter must meet before being eligible for an absentee
ballot, or the content of the application. Only the method of delivery
is affected.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.

FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE:  None.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth
days after it shall have become a law.

2009-A9385 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                  9385

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 6, 2010
                               ___________

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 requiring county boards
  to  create  systems  for  processing  electronic requests for absentee
  ballots

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

  Section  1.  Paragraph  (d)  of  subdivision 2 of section 8-400 of the
election law, as amended by chapter 165 of the laws of 2009, is  amended
to read as follows:
  (d)  The  board  of  elections  shall mail an absentee ballot to every
qualified voter otherwise eligible for such a ballot, who requests  such
an  absentee  ballot from such board of elections in a [letter] COMMUNI-
CATION, which is signed AND/OR CERTIFIED by the voter  and  received  by
the board of elections not earlier than the thirtieth day nor later than
the  seventh  day  before  the  election  for  which the ballot is first
requested and which states the address where the voter is registered and
the address to which the ballot is to be mailed;  provided,  however,  a
military  voter may request a military ballot in a letter as provided in
subdivision three of  section  10-106  of  this  chapter;  and  provided
further, a special federal voter may request a special federal ballot in
a letter as provided in paragraph d of subdivision one of section 11-202
of this chapter. The board of elections shall enclose with such ballot a
form of application for absentee ballot.
  S  2.  Section  8-400  of  the election law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 11 to read as follows:
  11. (A) THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS OF EACH COUNTY SHALL  ENACT  PROCEDURES
AND  REGULATIONS  TO  ENABLE  VOTERS  TO  REQUEST AND APPLY FOR ABSENTEE
BALLOTS BY MEANS OF A FORM SUBMITTED OVER A SECURE  INTERNET  CONNECTION
THROUGH THE WEBSITE OF THE BOARD AND/OR THE COUNTY.
  (B)  ANY  ELECTRONIC  REQUEST FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT SUBMITTED THROUGH
SUCH A WEBSITE SHALL BE DEEMED  TO  CONSTITUTE  AN  APPLICATION  FOR  AN

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

                                                           LBD15252-02-0

A. 9385                             2

ABSENTEE  BALLOT  WITHIN  THE MEANING OF THIS SECTION, PROVIDED THAT THE
ELECTRONIC FORM:
  (I) REQUESTS THE VOTER TO SUPPLY THAT INFORMATION REQUIRED BY SUBDIVI-
SION THREE OF THIS SECTION;
  (II)  CONTAINS  THE  LANGUAGE  REQUIRED  BY  SUBDIVISION  FIVE OF THIS
SECTION;
  (III) PROMPTS THE VOTER, UPON  COMPLETION,  TO  SUBMIT  AN  ELECTRONIC
SIGNATURE SUFFICIENT TO REASONABLY GUARANTEE THE VOTER'S IDENTITY;
  (IV)  INFORMS  THE VOTER THAT SUCH SIGNATURE HAS THE SAME LEGAL EFFECT
AS A SIGNATURE EXECUTED BY HAND; AND
  (V) DOES NOT PERMIT THE SUBMISSION OF  A  FORM  SO  INCOMPLETE  AS  TO
RENDER THE BOARD UNABLE TO PROCESS IT THROUGH ITS NORMAL PROCEDURES.
  (C)  IN  THE  CASE OF SUCH ELECTRONIC REQUESTS, THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
SHALL PROVIDE TIMELY NOTIFICATION TO THE VOTER OF ANY  DEFECT  IN  THEIR
ELECTRONIC  APPLICATION.  SUCH  NOTIFICATION MAY BE SENT TO THE VOTER BY
ELECTRONIC MAIL.
  (D) NOTHING IN THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO ALTER THE INFORMA-
TION REQUIRED ON AN ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION, OR THE  QUALIFICATIONS,
STATUTORY OR CONSTITUTIONAL, REQUIRED TO VOTE BY ABSENTEE BALLOT.
  S  3.  Severability.  If  any provision of this act or the application
thereof shall for any reason be  adjudged  by  any  court  of  competent
jurisdiction  to  be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
invalidate the remainder of this act, but shall be confined in its oper-
ation to the provision thereof directly involved in the  controversy  in
which such judgment shall have been rendered.
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law.

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