S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3549
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 29, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the font of polling
location notices
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 3 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
1. The board of elections, between August first and August fifth of
each year, shall send by mail on which is endorsed such language desig-
nated 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 registered 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 ensu-
ing primary and general 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 primary will not be held on the first Tuesday after the second
Monday in September, the communication shall contain a conspicuous
notice in all capital letters and bold font notifying the voter of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04007-01-9
A. 3549 2
primary date. If the location of the polling place for the voter's
election district has been moved, the communication shall contain the
following legend in bold [type] PRINT OF AT LEAST SIXTEEN POINT FONT:
"YOUR POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN CHANGED. YOU NOW VOTE AT..........". The
communication shall also indicate whether the polling place is accessi-
ble 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
physically 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 applications to move a registration record or for absentee ballot
applications, 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 informa-
tion 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.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.