Senate Bill S8290

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to the preservation of ballots and information stored on electronic media

download bill text pdf

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 26, 2018	referred to elections

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §3-222, El L

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the preservation of ballots and information stored on electronic media; requires such information and ballots to be preserved for two years after an election and then be destroyed; exempts such ballots and information from disclosure pursuant to article six of the public officers law.

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8290

SPONSOR: AKSHAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to the preservation of
ballots and information stored on electronic media

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would provide further guidance on the preservation of informa-
tion on removable memory cards used in voting machines and voted
ballots, and exempts removable memory cards and voted ballots from free-
dom of information law disclosures.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill would amend Election Law § 3-222(1) and (2) to
specify that information stored on removable memory cards used in voting
machines be preserved for two years, and exempts such information from
disclosure under FOIL. It also exempts voted ballots from disclosure

under FOIL, and mandates destruction of those ballots after two years.

Section 2 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Current law prescribes that the information stored on removable memory
cards used in voting machines and the voted ballots be preserved for two
years, and provides for disclosure of such information or ballots only
upon court a court order or by direction of a legislative committee
investigating the election to which the cards or ballots pertain.

Recently, in In the Matter of Kosmider v. Whitney (2018 NY Slip Op
02517; Third Department), an intermediate appellate court held that the
voted ballots were subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Informa-
tion Law (Public Officers Law Article 6, "FOIL"). The Third Department
found that absent an explicit legislative intent to exempt these docu-
ments from disclosure, they should be released pursuant to a FOIL
request. The Legislature believes that this decision is incorrect, and
the information on the removable memory cards and the voted ballots
should be exempt from disclosure under FOIL because the current grounds
for releasing this information are sufficient to balance public interest
in accessing such information with the administrative burdens on local
boards of election in assembling these documents when necessary.

Further, the Legislature believes that the Third Department's reading of
Election Law § 3-222 to not contain a FOIL exemption, and thereby
permitting disclosure under FOIL, is inaccurate because the bases for
disclosure, a court order or direction of a legislative committee inves-
tigating an election, serve as explicit grounds on which disclosure may
occur. This bill seeks to clarify the Third Department's decision and
make clear the legislative intent that information on memory cards from
voting machines and voted ballots are not subject to disclosure under
FOIL.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect immediately.

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8290
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 26, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  AKSHAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation  to  the  preservation  of
   ballots and information stored on electronic media
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 3-222 of the election  law,
 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 169 of the laws of 2011 and subdivi-
 sion  2  as  amended  by chapter 282 of the laws of 2011, are amended to
 read as follows:
   1. Except as hereinafter provided, removable  memory  cards  or  other
 similar  electronic  media  shall remain sealed against reuse until such
 time as the information stored on such media has  been  preserved  in  a
 manner consistent with procedures developed and distributed by the state
 board  of  elections.  SUCH INFORMATION SHALL BE PRESERVED FOR TWO YEARS
 AFTER SUCH ELECTION. AT THE EXPIRATION  OF  SUCH  TIME,  SUCH  PRESERVED
 INFORMATION  SHALL  BE  DELETED BY THE OFFICER OR BOARD HAVING CHARGE OF
 IT. Provided, however, that the information stored  on  such  electronic
 media  OR  PRESERVED  FROM  SUCH  ELECTRONIC MEDIA, and all the data and
 figures therein may ONLY be examined upon the  order  of  any  court  or
 judge of competent jurisdiction or may be examined at the direction of a
 committee  of  the  senate  or  assembly  to investigate and report upon
 contested elections of members of the legislature voted for by  the  use
 of  voting  machines  utilizing  such electronic media and such data and
 such figures examined by such committee in the presence of  the  officer
 having  the  custody  of  voting  machines  and  electronic  media,  AND
 PROVIDED, FURTHER, THAT SUCH INFORMATION OR DATA SHALL  BE  EXEMPT  FROM
 DISCLOSURE PURSUANT TO ARTICLE SIX OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW.
   2.  Voted ballots shall be preserved for two years after such election
 and the packages thereof may be opened and the  contents  examined  only
 upon  order  of a court or judge of competent jurisdiction, or by direc-
 tion of such committee of the senate and assembly if the ballots  relate
 to  the  election  under  investigation by such committee, AND PROVIDED,
 FURTHER, THAT SUCH BALLOTS SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE  PURSUANT  TO
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD15593-01-8

 S. 8290                             2
 
 ARTICLE  SIX  OF  THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW, and at the expiration of such
 time, such ballots [may be disposed of at the discretion  of]  SHALL  BE
 DESTROYED BY the officer or board having charge of them.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Find your Senator and share your views on important issues.

Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S8290

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

Actions

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Do you support this bill?

Get Status Alerts for 2017-S8290

Senate Bill S8290

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Fred Akshar

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

Actions

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S8290 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments