S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  7817

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              May 27, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. CUSICK -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Election Law

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  election  law,  in relation to ensuring certain
  notification requirements are cost-effective and efficient

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

  Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section 4-117 of the election law, as
amended by chapter 288 of the laws  of  2009,  is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  1.  The  board  of elections, between August first and August fifth of
each year, shall send  by  [first  class]  mail  on  which  is  endorsed
["ADDRESS  CORRECTION  REQUESTED"] SUCH LANGUAGE DESIGNATED BY THE STATE
BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO ENSURE POSTAL AUTHORITIES DO NOT FORWARD SUCH MAIL
BUT RETURN IT TO THE BOARD OF  ELECTIONS  WITH  FORWARDING  INFORMATION,
WHEN  IT  CANNOT  BE DELIVERED AS ADDRESSED and which contains a request
that any such mail received for persons not residing at the  address  be
dropped  back  in  the  mail, a communication, in a form approved by the
state board of elections, to every registered voter who has been  regis-
tered  without  a  change  of  address since the beginning of such year,
except that the board of elections shall not be required  to  send  such
communications  to  voters  in  inactive status. The communication shall
notify the voter of the days and hours of the ensuing primary and gener-
al elections, the place where he appears by his registration records  to
be  entitled  to  vote, the fact that voters who have moved or will have
moved from the address where they were last registered must  re-register
or, that if such move was to another address in the same county or city,
that  such  voter  may  either  notify the board of elections of his new
address or vote by paper ballot at the polling place for his new address
even if such voter has not  re-registered,  or  otherwise  notified  the
board  of  elections  of  the  change of address. If the location of the
polling place for the voter's election  district  has  been  moved,  the

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD11371-01-5
              

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communication  shall  contain  the  following legend in bold type: "YOUR
POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN CHANGED. YOU NOW VOTE AT..........". The communi-
cation shall also indicate whether the polling place  is  accessible  to
physically  disabled voters, that a voter who will be out of the city or
county on the day of the primary or general election or a voter  who  is
ill  or  physically disabled may obtain an absentee ballot, that a phys-
ically disabled voter whose polling place is not accessible may  request
that  his registration record be moved to an election district which has
a polling place which is accessible, the phone number to call for appli-
cations to move a registration record or for  absentee  ballot  applica-
tions,  the  phone  number  to call for the location of registration and
polling places, the phone number to call to indicate that the  voter  is
willing  to  serve on election day as an election inspector, poll clerk,
interpreter or in other capacities, the phone number to call  to  obtain
an  application  for  registration  by  mail, and such other information
concerning the elections or registration as the board  may  include.  In
lieu  of sending such communication to every registered voter, the board
of elections may send a single communication to a  household  containing
more  than  one  registered  voter,  provided that the names of all such
voters appear as part of the address on such communication.
  S 2. Subdivision 9 of section 5-210 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 179 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
  9. The county board of elections shall, promptly and in any event, not
later than twenty-one days after receipt by it of the application, veri-
fy the identity of the applicant. In order to do so, the county board of
elections shall utilize the information provided in the application  and
shall  attempt  to verify such information with the information provided
by the department of motor vehicles, social security administration  and
any  other  lawful  available information source. If the county board of
elections is unable to verify the identity of the applicant within twen-
ty-one days of the receipt of the application, it shall immediately take
steps to confirm that the information  provided  by  the  applicant  was
accurately  utilized  by  such county board of elections, was accurately
verified with other information sources and that no data entry error, or
other similar type of  error,  occurred.  Following  completion  of  the
preceding  steps,  the county board of elections shall mail (a) a notice
of its approval, (b) a notice of its approval which  includes  an  indi-
cation  that  such board has not yet been able to verify the identity of
the applicant and a request for more information so that such  verifica-
tion  may be completed, or (c) a notice of its rejection of the applica-
tion to the  applicant  in  a  form  approved  by  the  state  board  of
elections.  Notices  of  approval, notices of approval with requests for
more information or notices of rejection shall be sent by nonforwardable
first class or return postage  guaranteed  mail  on  which  is  endorsed
["ADDRESS  CORRECTION  REQUESTED"] SUCH LANGUAGE DESIGNATED BY THE STATE
BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO ENSURE POSTAL AUTHORITIES DO NOT FORWARD SUCH MAIL
BUT RETURN IT TO THE BOARD OF  ELECTIONS  WITH  FORWARDING  INFORMATION,
WHEN  IT  CANNOT  BE DELIVERED AS ADDRESSED and which contains a request
that any such mail received for persons not residing at the  address  be
dropped  back in the mail. The voter's registration and enrollment shall
be complete upon receipt of the application by  the  appropriate  county
board of elections. The failure of a county board of elections to verify
an  applicant's  identity  shall not be the basis for the rejection of a
voter's application, provided, however, that such  verification  failure
shall  be  the basis for requiring county board of elections to take the
additional verification steps provided by this chapter. The notice shall

A. 7817                             3

also advise the registrant of the date when his registration and enroll-
ment is effective, of the date and the hours of the next regularly sche-
duled primary or general election in which he will be eligible to  vote,
of  the  location of the polling place of the election district in which
he is or will be a qualified voter, whether such polling place is acces-
sible to physically handicapped voters, an  indication  that  physically
handicapped  voters  or  voters who are ill or voters who will be out of
the city or county on the day of the primary or  general  election,  may
obtain  an  absentee  ballot  and  the phone number to call for absentee
ballot applications, the phone numbers to call for location  of  polling
places,  to  obtain  registration  forms and the phone number to call to
indicate that the voter is willing  to  serve  on  election  day  as  an
inspector,  poll clerk or interpreter. The notice of approval, notice of
approval with request for more information or notice of rejection  shall
also  advise  the applicant to notify the board of elections if there is
any inaccuracy. The form of such mail notification shall  be  prescribed
by the state board of elections and shall contain such other information
and  instructions as it may reasonably require to carry out the purposes
of this section. The request for more information shall inform the voter
that "THE FAILURE TO CONTACT THE BOARD  OF  ELECTIONS  AND  CORRECT  ANY
INACCURACIES IN THE APPLICATION OR PROVIDE REQUESTED ADDITIONAL INFORMA-
TION MAY RESULT IN A REQUEST FOR IDENTIFICATION AT THE POLLS IN ORDER TO
CAST A VOTE ON A VOTING MACHINE." If such notice is returned undelivered
without  a  new address, the board shall forthwith send such applicant a
confirmation notice pursuant to the provisions of section 5-712 of  this
article  and place such applicant in inactive status. The state board of
elections shall prepare uniform notices by this section as provided  for
in subdivision eight of section 3-102 of this chapter.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.