senate Bill S2717

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Establishes a ranked choice voting method for certain local elections; provides for repeal of such provisions

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee


  • Introduced
  • In Committee
  • On Floor Calendar
    • Passed Senate
    • Passed Assembly
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed/Vetoed by Governor

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Actions

view actions (2)
Assembly Actions - Lowercase
Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020 referred to elections
Jan 29, 2019 referred to elections

Co-Sponsors

S2717 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A8073
Current Committee:
Senate Elections
Law Section:
Election Law
Laws Affected:
Add Art 18 §§18-100 - 18-110, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2009-2010: A3281
2011-2012: A6398
2013-2014: S3250, A2109
2015-2016: S2741, A5744
2017-2018: S5616, A8613
2021-2022: S491, A5085

S2717 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a ranked choice voting method for certain local elections; provides for repeal of such provisions.

S2717 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2717 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2717

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 29, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sens. KRUEGER, HOYLMAN, SERRANO -- 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 establishing a ranked
  choice voting method for certain local elections;  and  providing  for
  the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Legislative findings. The current system  of  voting  often
results  in the election of a candidate that does not  have the majority
support of the electorate  when  there  are  three  or  more  candidates
running  for  an elective office. Further, where there are three or more
candidates for an elective office, voters often will not vote for  their
preferred  candidate to avoid "wasting" their vote on a "spoiler" candi-
date. Rather, they will vote against a candidate they dislike, by voting
for a leading candidate that they perceive as the lesser of  two  evils.
The  result  of  the  current system in multi-candidate races can be the
election of candidates that lack majority support.
  The ranked choice voting method provides for the majority election for
elective offices. Ranked choice voting gives voters the option  to  rank
candidates  according  to  the  order  of  their choice. If no candidate
obtains a majority of first-choice votes, then the  candidate  receiving
the  fewest  first-choice  votes  is  eliminated. Each vote cast for the
eliminated candidate shall be transferred to the candidate who  was  the
voter's  next  choice  on  the  ballot. The process is continued until a
candidate receives a majority of votes.
  There are several potential benefits to the ranked choice voting meth-
od. First, voters are free to mark their ballot for the  candidate  they
truly prefer without fear that their choice will  help elect their least
preferred  candidate.  Second, it insures that the elected candidate has
true majority support. In addition, the ranked choice voting method will

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

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