Senate Bill S7627

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7627
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 3, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MYRIE  -- 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  ensuring  that  voting
   systems  testing  requirements  do  not make it impractical to provide
   each polling place for early  voting  all  of  the  election  district
   ballots

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 8-600 of the election  law,
 as  added  by  chapter  6  of  the  laws of 2019, are amended to read as
 follows:
   2. (a) The board of elections shall designate polling places for early
 voting, which may include the offices of the  board  of  elections,  for
 persons  to  vote early pursuant to this title. There shall be so desig-
 nated at least one early voting polling place for every  full  increment
 of  fifty  thousand registered voters in each county; provided, however,
 [the number of early voting polling places in  a  county  shall  not  be
 required  to  be greater than seven, and] a county with fewer than fifty
 thousand voters shall have at least one early voting polling place.
   (b) The board of elections of each county or the city of New York  may
 establish  additional  polling  places for early voting in excess of the
 minimum number required by  this  subdivision  for  the  convenience  of
 eligible voters.
   (c)  Notwithstanding  the  minimum  number  of early voting poll sites
 otherwise required by this subdivision, for  any  [primary  or]  special
 election,  upon  majority  vote of the board of elections, the number of
 early voting sites may be reduced when the board of elections determines
 a lesser number of sites is  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  early
 voters.
   (d) Polling places for early voting shall be located so that voters in
 the county have adequate and equitable access, taking into consideration
 population density, travel time to the polling place, proximity to other
 early  voting poll sites, public transportation routes, commuter traffic
 patterns and such other factors the board of elections  deems  appropri-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14437-01-9

 S. 7627                             2
 
 ate.  The  provisions  of section 4-104 of this chapter, except subdivi-
 sions four and five of such section, shall apply to the  designation  of
 polling places for early voting except to the extent such provisions are
 inconsistent with this section.
   3.  Any  voter  may  vote at any polling place for early voting estab-
 lished pursuant to subdivision two of this section in the  county  where
 such  voter is registered to vote; provided, however, if it is impracti-
 cal to provide each polling place for early voting all of  the  election
 district  ballots  [or  if  early voting at any such polling place makes
 ensuring that no voter  has  not  previously  voted  early  during  such
 election],  the  board  of  elections may assign election districts to a
 particular early voting poll site. All voters in each county shall  have
 one or more polling places at which they are eligible to vote throughout
 the  early voting period on a substantially equal basis. If the board of
 elections does not agree by majority vote to  plan  to  assign  election
 districts  to  early voting poll sites, all voters in the county must be
 able to vote at any poll site for early voting in the county.
   § 2. Section 8-602 of the election law, as added by chapter 6  of  the
 laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   § 8-602. State board of elections; powers and duties for early voting.
 The  state  board  of  elections  shall  promulgate rules or regulations
 necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this  title.  Such
 rules  and  regulations shall include, but not be limited to, provisions
 to: (i) ensure that ballots cast early, by any method allowed under law,
 are counted and canvassed as if cast on election day[,]; (ii) ensure  an
 efficient and fair early voting process that respects the privacy of the
 voter[,  and];  (iii)  require  that  the voting history record for each
 voter be continually updated to reflect each instance of early voting by
 such voter; AND (IV) ENSURE THAT VOTING SYSTEMS TESTING REQUIREMENTS  DO
 NOT  MAKE  IT IMPRACTICAL TO PROVIDE EACH POLLING PLACE FOR EARLY VOTING
 ALL OF THE ELECTION DISTRICT BALLOTS.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have  become  a  law  and  shall  apply to any general, primary, run-off
 primary or special election held  thereafter  as  provided  for  in  the
 election law.