Senate Bill S8002

                                BILL NUMBER:S8002               REVISED 06/24/10

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the election law, in relation to the method of transportation
for the return of unused paper ballots within the city of New York

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would allow the Board of Elections in the city of New York
to retrieve unused paper ballots from the poll site the day after the
election rather than requiring the police or peace officer retrieving
the election returns on election night to also retrieve the unused
ballots.

Additionally, the bill makes clear that voted ballots cannot remain in
an unsecured location, but instead must be returned to the board of
elections the night before.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 2 of section 9-124 of the
election law to provide that voted ballots, along with those ballots
not yet canvassed be returned on election night to the county board
of elections. The section also requires the election inspectors in
the city of New York to secure all packages of unused ballots in a
designated container at the poll site upon the close of the polls for
later retrieval by the board of elections.
              

Section 2 is the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

The bill makes clear in statute what is current practice in many
county boards of election, which is to return all election day voted
materials that night. Securing the prompt return of the voted ballots
on election night is a critical part of securing the election. We are
no longer living in a lever voting machine world. Under the
implementation of HAVA we are moving to all paper ballots this
year. At the end of the night inspectors will be left with an
electronic ballot scanner, hundreds or even thousands of paper
ballots that have been scanned through the machine and deposited into
a locked box below, as well as election day paper ballots that have
been cast but not scanned, affidavit ballots and all the leftover
unused paper ballots. Leaving all of paper unsecured creates a
situation ripe for fraud.

It is easy to imagine a scenario in a close election where all of the
paper ballots from several election districts are left at a town hall
overnight and the next day the container with all of the ballots is
gone, as well as the container containing the microchip from the
scanner that must be
removed at the end of the night from the machine. Now there is

absolutely no way, aside from what was called into the board of
elections to independently confirm the election results.

This issue is central to ballot security. Bringing all of the paper
ballots back to the board is important because it will maintain a
chain of custody. In a close election that is being litigated it will
be critical to know what that chain of custody is.

Currently, at the close of the polls, police and peace officers in the
city of New York retrieve, transport and deliver all election day
results, including any unused ballots, to the board of elections. The
inclusion of unused ballots may be significantly more difficult when
New York begins using optical scan voting machines and all voters
vote on a paper ballot because many of the officers use their own
personal vehicles to make the delivery and space may not be available
for all the unused ballots. This bill would allow the board of
elections to provide secure storage containers at each poll site to
allow the unused ballots to remain at the poll site until the
following day when they are picked up by the board. It is important
to note that the City of New York has purchased thousands of secure
metal storage containers in which to lock the unused ballots.
Furthermore, all cast ballots will still be taken back by the officer
on duty, continuing the chain of custody.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
Passed Assembly earlier this session on consent.

FISCAL IMPLICATION:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect immediately.