Assembly Bill A10994

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10994
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             September 9, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES  -- (at request of M. of A. Walker,
   Peoples-Stokes) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election
   Law
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation  to  directing  the  state
   board  of  elections  to implement a ballot tracking system for use by
   absentee ballot voters to track the status of their ballots

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The election law is amended by adding a new section 8-414
 to read as follows:
   § 8-414. ABSENTEE BALLOTS; TRACKING OF. 1. NOT LATER THAN JULY  FIRST,
 TWO  THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE, THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL IMPLEMENT A
 BALLOT TRACKING SYSTEM THAT REGISTERED VOTERS CAN UTILIZE TO  TRACK  THE
 STATUS  OF  ABSENTEE  BALLOTS.  SUCH SYSTEM SHALL TRACK ABSENTEE BALLOTS
 UTILIZING VOTER ROLL DATA FROM THE STATE AND THE  UNITED  STATES  POSTAL
 SERVICES'  INTELLIGENT  MAIL BARCODE DATA SPECIFIC TO ELECTION MAIL. THE
 STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL MAKE THE BALLOT TRACKING SYSTEM AVAILABLE
 FOR USE BY EACH COUNTY BOARD. SUCH SYSTEM SHALL  BE  ACCESSIBLE  TO  THE
 GENERAL PUBLIC THROUGH A CLEARLY DESIGNATED WEBPAGE OR LINK ON THE STATE
 BOARD  OF  ELECTIONS'  WEBSITE AND THROUGH A LINK ON THE WEBSITE OF EACH
 COUNTY BOARD.
   2. (A) THE BALLOT TRACKING SYSTEM SHALL ENABLE A REGISTERED  VOTER  TO
 SEARCH  FOR  INFORMATION  ON THE STATUS OF HIS OR HER ABSENTEE BALLOT BY
 ENTERING THE VOTER'S NAME, THE ADDRESS AT WHICH THE VOTER  IS  QUALIFIED
 TO  VOTE  AND A VALID PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (PIN). DATA ENTERED
 TO SEARCH FOR THE BALLOT STATUS MUST  MATCH  THE  DATA  ON  THE  VOTER'S
 ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION.
   (B) VOTERS WISHING TO TRACK THE STATUS OF THEIR ABSENTEE BALLOTS SHALL
 REGISTER  WITH  THE BALLOT TRACKING SYSTEM USING THE DATA ON THE VOTER'S
 ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION. EACH VOTER REGISTERED WITH THE SYSTEM SHALL
 CREATE AN INDIVIDUAL PIN.
   3. THE BALLOT TRACKING SYSTEM SHALL DISPLAY THE STATUS OF THE  VOTER'S
 ABSENTEE BALLOT, INCLUDING:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD17173-03-0

 A. 10994                            2
 
   (A)  NOTIFICATION  THAT THE COUNTY BOARD RECEIVED THE VOTER'S APPLICA-
 TION FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT;
   (B)  THE  DATE  THE  ABSENTEE BALLOT WAS PROVIDED TO THE UNITED STATES
 POST OFFICE FOR DELIVERY TO THE VOTER;
   (C) THE ADDRESS TO WHICH THE ABSENTEE BALLOT WAS SENT;
   (D) THE DATE, BASED ON  INFORMATION  FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES  POSTAL
 SERVICE,  THAT  THE  VOTER'S  BALLOT  IS EXPECTED TO BE DELIVERED TO THE
 VOTER;
   (E) A NOTIFICATION IF THE VOTER'S BALLOT IS RETURNED AS  UNDELIVERABLE
 TO THE COUNTY BOARD BY THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE;
   (F)  IF  THE COMPLETED ABSENTEE BALLOT HAS BEEN RECEIVED BY THE COUNTY
 BOARD, A NOTIFICATION THAT THE COUNTY BOARD RECEIVED IT; AND
   (G) A NOTIFICATION THAT THE VOTER'S COMPLETED BALLOT HAS BEEN COUNTED,
 OR, IF THE BALLOT CANNOT BE COUNTED, A NOTIFICATION OF  THE  REASON  WHY
 THE  BALLOT  COULD NOT BE COUNTED AND INSTRUCTIONS OF ANY STEPS THAT THE
 VOTER CAN TAKE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE BALLOT COUNTED.
   4. FUNDING FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION  OF  THE  ABSENTEE  BALLOT  TRACKING
 SYSTEM  SHALL  BE PROVIDED TO THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS FROM THE HELP
 AMERICA VOTE ACT IMPLEMENTATION ACCOUNT.
   5. AS USED IN THIS SECTION "COUNTY BOARD" MEANS THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
 OF THE COUNTY OR CITY IN WHICH THE APPLICANT FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT IS A
 QUALIFIED VOTER.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.