Senate Bill S4216

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S4216

 TITLE OF BILL :  CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to section 6 of article 2 of the constitution,
in relation to the personal appearance requirement for voter
registration

 PURPOSE OF BILL :

This bill amends the New York State constitution to repeal the
requirement that in order to register to vote a voter make "personal
application". This amendment is necessary in order to pave the way for
a voter registration system whereby every citizen, upon a specific
occurrence, is registered to vote automatically by the state.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS : OF BILL:

Section one of this bill repeals the terms "upon personal application"
currently contained within section 6 of article 2 of the state
constitution. This provision requires citizens, upon their own
personal initiative register to vote.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In March of 2015 Oregon became the first state in the country to
create a system of voter registration whereby any Oregon citizen with
              

a valid driver's license is automatically registered to vote. Oregon
predicts this initiative will add up to 300,000 new voters to an
already engaged electorate of which 52 percent cast ballots in the
November 2014 election. In the same election, 28.8 percent of New York
State voters cast ballots, tying for the third lowest turnout among
states in the nation's lowest voter turnout since 1942.

This constitutional resolution is necessary to pave the way for the
state legislature to enact a system of automatic voter registration
should it so desire. Should a voter not wish to be registered, he or
she can opt out of the system or simply not return the election ballot
in the mail since Oregon administers an all mail election system.

Currently, the state constitution requires a voter "upon personal
application" to register himself or herself to vote. The state's voter
registration system further outlines in Article 5 of the Election law
additional requirements and methods pertaining to voter registration.
This constitutional requirement would need to be passed and ratified
however, in the event the state wished to move forward with such a
system whereby voters were automatically registered.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-2016 S.5125/A.10274: Referred to judiciary

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS :

None to the state.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Resolved (if the) concur, that the foregoing amendment be referred to
the first regular legislative session convening after the next
succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in
conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be
published for three months previous to the time of such election.