NY State Senate Bill 2019-S4666

Senate Bill S4666

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to poll watchers for special, town or village elections being held for the sole purpose of a ballot proposal

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

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to elections
Mar 20, 2019	referred to elections

2019-S4666 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1929
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §8-500, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: S3290, A4194
2017-2018: S1719, A1342
2021-2022: S3962, A4963
2023-2024: A3046

2019-S4666 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to poll watchers for special, town or village elections being held for the sole purpose of a ballot proposal.

2019-S4666 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4666

SPONSOR: CARLUCCI
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the election law, in relation to poll
watchers for special, town or village elections being held for the sole
purpose of a ballot proposal

 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:

This bill will allow the county board of elections to appoint poll
watchers in local special elections that are being held for the sole
purpose of a ballot proposal.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends section 8-500 of the election law as it
relates to providing poll watchers in special elections that are being
held solely for ballot propositions.

Section two of the bill relates to the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

There is currently no process for poll watchers to be appointed in
special town or villages when they are being held solely for referen-
dums. The law currently allows the political party committee of the
candidates in elections to appoint poll watchers but does not provide a
process for elections where no candidates are involved. This bill will
provide appropriate transparency through citizen poll watchers for local
ballot referendums which is afforded to all other elections.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A.1342 of 2017-18,
A.4194 of 2015-2016

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law; provided however, that effective immediately, the addi-
tion, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for
the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and
directed to made and completed on or before such effective date.

2019-S4666 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4666
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 20, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. CARLUCCI -- 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  poll  watchers  for
   special,  town or village elections being held for the sole purpose of
   a ballot proposal

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 8-500 of the election law,
 as amended by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, are amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   1.  At  any  general,  special,  town  or  village election, any party
 committee or independent body whose candidates are upon the ballot,  AND
 WHEN  A  SPECIAL,  TOWN  OR  VILLAGE ELECTION IS BEING HELD FOR THE SOLE
 PURPOSE OF A BALLOT PROPOSAL OR PROPOSALS, THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS OF THE
 COUNTY IN WHICH THE ELECTION IS BEING HELD and at any primary  election,
 any two or more candidates and any political committee may have for each
 election  district  three watchers at any one time, not more than one of
 whom may be within the guard rail at any one  time.  Watchers  shall  be
 appointed  by  the  chairman of any such party, committee or independent
 body or by the candidates OR BY THE BOARD OF  ELECTIONS,  UPON  REQUEST,
 FOR  A SPECIAL, TOWN OR VILLAGE ELECTION THAT IS BEING HELD FOR THE SOLE
 PURPOSE OF A BALLOT PROPOSAL OR PROPOSALS. IN SUCH ELECTIONS, THE  BOARD
 OF  ELECTIONS  SHALL APPOINT WATCHERS IN A MANNER THAT ENSURES EQUITABLE
 REPRESENTATION OF ORGANIZATIONS OR INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE  ADVOCATING  THE
 PASSAGE OR DEFEAT OF THE BALLOT PROPOSAL OR PROPOSALS.
   3.  The appointment of watchers for any election shall be by a certif-
 icate in writing issued by the chairman or secretary  of  the  political
 party  or  independent  body,  [or]  the  candidates  OR  THE  BOARD  OF
 ELECTIONS. Such certificate shall be delivered to an  inspector  at  the
 election district.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01586-01-9

 S. 4666                             2
 
   §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary  for  the  implementation  of
 this  act  on  its effective date are authorized and directed to be made
 and completed on or before such effective date.

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.