BILL NUMBER:  S6749

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the election law, in relation to the
confidentiality of registration records for victims of domestic
violence

 PURPOSE :

To ensure that voter registration and other records relating to a
victim of domestic violence are kept confidential.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 5-508 of the election law,
to provide that application for a court order requiring registration
records to be confidential can be made to county court and family
court, in addition to supreme court. This section also amends the
subdivision to require that the court issue such an order, rather than
permitting the court to do so. Lastly, this section expands the scope
of the court order so that in addition to the registration record
itself, any other records with respect to an individual would also be
kept confidential.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :
              

The election law currently provides that a domestic violence victim
can make an application to the supreme court for an order that his or
her voting registration record be kept separate and apart from other
records and not made available for inspection by the public. However,
domestic violence victims often seek orders of protection and handle
their cases in county court or family court. Having to go to supreme
court to obtain the confidentiality order places an additional burden
on them, and many will simply not obtain the order and stop voting out
of fear that their address would be publicly available through their
registration records.

In addition, the bill clarifies that other records relating to the
domestic violence victim are also to be kept confidential, not just
the registration records. This will ensure that other documents, such
as an absentee ballot request containing an address, are protected.

Without a confidentiality order, the voter registration and other
records which contain the individual's address would be available to
the public. Making it easier to obtain the order, and clarifying that
the order covers other records related to an individual, will enable
more victims of domestic violence to vote safely.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediate.