Senate Bill S9076

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S9076        REVISED 10/30/2020

SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation enacting the "Make Voting
Easy Act" to require that the board of elections designate at least one
early voting polling place for every full increment of twenty-five thou-
sand registered voters in each county

 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation enacting the "Make Voting
Easy Act" to require that the board of elections designate at least one
early voting polling place for every full increment of twenty-five thou-
sand registered voters in each county

 
PURPOSE:

To require the board of elections to designate at least one early voting
polling place for every full increment of twenty-five thousand regis-
              

tered voters in each county.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one is the title.

Section two of the bill amends the election law by amending subdivision
2 of section 8-600 to require that the Board of Elections establish at
least one early voting polling place per 25,000 registered voters with
no maximum number of polling places.

Section three sets the effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:


 
JUSTIFICATION:

After we succeeded in establishing Early Voting in 2019, long lines and
extraordinarily long wait times for early voters in the 2020 Presiden-
tial election demonstrated that the process must be improved.  The
lengthy wait times were the result of too few polling places for the
number of registered voters. Reducing overcrowding and long lines at the
polls is especially important in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,
though a fast and easy early voting experience should be the standard
for any election. Under this proposal, a majority of counties would see
an increase in the number of polling locations.  Increasing the minimum
number of poll sites will better facilitate Early Voting across New York
State.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately and shall apply to any general, primary, run-off primary, or
special election held thereafter.