NY State Senate Bill 2013-S3342

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections 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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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2014	referred to elections
Feb 01, 2013	referred to elections

co-Sponsors

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §5-106, El L; amd §259-c, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S4643
2011-2012: S2760
2015-2016: S2023
2017-2018: S960
2019-2020: S1931

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to voting and registration for voting by convicted felons; provides such convicted felons may vote if pardoned, such persons maximum sentence of imprisonment has expired, or such person is serving a term of parole, presumptive release, conditional release or post-release supervision.

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S3342

TITLE  OF  BILL:    An act to amend the election law and the executive
law, in relation to voting by convicted felons

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:    This  bill  would  restore  voting
rights   to   parolees,  to  facilitate  community  reintegration  and
participation in the civic process, rather than requiring a parolee to
wait until he or she has been discharged from parole  or  reached  the
maximum expiration date of the sentence.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision two of section 5-106 of the
Election  Law  to  restore  voting rights to individuals who have been
released to  community  supervision  from  New  York  state  sentences
imposed  as  a  result  of New York felony convictions. Election Law
5-10G(2) bars a person convicted of a New York felony from  voting  or
registering  to  vote, and also, as currently drafted, restores voting
rights when the person is either discharged from parole or reaches the
maximum expiration date of  his  or  her  sentence.  This  bill  would
restore  voting  rights  while  the  person  is  serving the community
supervision portion of the sentence, so that he or  she  can  exercise
the civic responsibility of voting. Sections two and three of the bill
make similar changes to subdivisions three and four of EL5S-106, which
deal   respectively   with   federal  felony  convictions  and  felony

convictions in other states.

Section 4 of the bill requires the Division of Parole  to  make  voter
registration forms available to parolees.

Section 5 of the bill is the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:    Under  current  law,  a  felony conviction imposes a
variety of disabilities, including a bar to voting, and the voting bar
may be removed only by discharge from, or completion of, the  sentence
as  provided  in  the Election Law, or by issuance of a certificate of
relief from disabilities  or  a  certificate  of  good  conduct  under
Article  23  of  the  Correction  Law. Certificates of relief and good
conduct may be issued to relieve eligible offenders of  a  variety  of
different disabilities, and may be specifically limited to one or more
enumerated  forfeiture,  disability  or  bar.  See  Correction  Law
701(l),  703-a(1).  However,  these  certificates   are   not   issued
automatically,  even  for  the  limited  purpose  of  restoring voting
rights, and some releasees supervised by the Division  of  Parole  may
not  be  eligible  for  certificates  of  good conduct until they meet
statutory waiting periods. Thus, many, if not most,  releasees  cannot
vote until after their periods of community supervision are over.

Parole  is  meant  to  help prevent recidivism and to rehabilitate and
reinitiate a felon back into society. This rehabilitation is built  on
the  offender's recognition of fault, taking responsibility for his or
her behavior, and his or her effort to  change.  Preventing  releasees
from  voting,  and  from exercising a constitutional right and a civic
responsibility, is a barrier to full reintegration  into  society.  It
also   continues   to  punish  people  who  have  already  served  the


incarcerative parts of their sentences, and that part of their debt to
society.

PRIOR   LEGISLATIVE  HISTORY:     2009-10:  S.4643/A.2445  (O'Donnell)
Referred to Elections Committee

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect immediately,  except  that
section  4  shall take effect 120 days after becoming law, to give the
Division of Parole time to implement section 4.

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                  3342

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 1, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sens. HASSELL-THOMPSON, KRUEGER, MONTGOMERY -- read twice
  and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
  on Elections

AN ACT to amend the election law and the executive law, in  relation  to
  voting by convicted felons

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

  Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 5-106  of  the  election  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  373  of  the  laws  of 1978, is amended to read as
follows:
  2. No person who has been convicted of a felony pursuant to  the  laws
of  this  state,  shall  have  the  right to register for or vote at any
election unless [he]: (I)  SUCH  PERSON  shall  have  been  pardoned  or
restored  to  the  rights  of citizenship by the governor, or [his] (II)
SUCH PERSON'S maximum sentence of imprisonment has expired, or  [he  has
been  discharged  from  parole.  The  governor, however, may attach as a
condition to any such pardon a provision that any such person shall  not
have  the right of suffrage until it shall have been separately restored
to him] (III) SUCH PERSON IS  SERVING  A  TERM  OF  PAROLE,  PRESUMPTIVE
RELEASE, CONDITIONAL RELEASE OR POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION.
  S  2. Subdivision 3 of section 5-106 of the election law is amended to
read as follows:
  3. No person who has been convicted in a federal court, of  a  felony,
or  a crime or offense which would constitute a felony under the laws of
this state, shall have the right to register for or vote at any election
unless [he]: (I) SUCH PERSON shall have been pardoned or restored to the
rights of citizenship by the president of the United  States,  or  [his]
(II)  SUCH PERSON'S maximum sentence of imprisonment has expired, or [he
has been discharged from parole] (III) SUCH PERSON IS SERVING A TERM  OF
PAROLE,  PRESUMPTIVE RELEASE, CONDITIONAL RELEASE OR POST-RELEASE SUPER-
VISION.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01660-01-3

S. 3342                             2

  S 3. Subdivision 4 of section 5-106 of the election law is amended  to
read as follows:
  4.  No  person  who has been convicted in another state for a crime or
offense which would constitute a felony under the  laws  of  this  state
shall  have  the  right  to register for or vote at any election in this
state unless [he]: (I) SUCH PERSON shall have been pardoned or  restored
to  the  rights  of  citizenship  by  the  governor or other appropriate
authority of such other state,  or  [his]  (II)  SUCH  PERSON'S  maximum
sentence has expired, or [he has been discharged from parole] (III) SUCH
PERSON  IS  SERVING  A  TERM OF PAROLE, PRESUMPTIVE RELEASE, CONDITIONAL
RELEASE OR POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION.
  S 4. Section 259-c of the executive law is amended  by  adding  a  new
subdivision 7 to read as follows:
  7.  HAVE  THE DUTY TO PROVIDE VOTER REGISTRATION FORMS TO EVERY PERSON
ON PAROLE, PRESUMPTIVE  RELEASE,  CONDITIONAL  RELEASE  OR  POST-RELEASE
SUPERVISION  AT  THE  TIME  SUCH PERSON IS RELEASED TO SUPERVISION OR AS
SOON THEREAFTER AS PRACTICABLE;
  S 5. This act shall take effect immediately, provided,  however,  that
section  four of this act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth
day after it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S3342

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

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co-Sponsors

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Details

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Ruth Hassell-Thompson

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

Actions

co-Sponsors

Liz Krueger

Velmanette Montgomery

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Details

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2013-S3342 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments