NY State Senate Bill S6925

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

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

Your Voice

Please enter your contact information

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

A valid email address is required.

Home address search or enter your address manually *

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.

Leave this field blank

Actions

view actions (7)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 09, 2020	referred to election law delivered to assembly passed senate ordered to third reading cal.7 reported and committed to rules
Jan 08, 2020	referred to elections
Dec 20, 2019	referred to rules

Votes

view votes

Jan 9, 2020 - floor Vote

S6925

floor

Aye

Nay

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Jan 9, 2020 - Elections committee Vote

S6925

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

show Elections committee vote details

Elections Committee Vote: Jan 9, 2020

aye (5)

nay (2)

Jan 9, 2020 - Rules committee Vote

S6925

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Jan 8, 2020 - floor Vote

S6925

floor

Aye

Nay

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Co-Sponsors

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Details

Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §8-600, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S744
2023-2024: S4369

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that certain cities and towns shall have early voting poll sites within their boundaries and, where practicable, that such sites shall be situated along public transportation routes.

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S6925

SPONSOR: BIAGGI
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to the location of polling
sites for early voting in certain cities and towns

 
PURPOSE:

This bill amends previously enacted early voting provisions to provide
that all medium-sized towns and cities in New York State must have at
least one early voting polling location.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends § 8-600 of the Election Law to provide that, in cities
and towns with a population of more than fifty thousand but less than
one hundred thousand based on the latest federal decennial census, each
such city and town must have at least one early voting polling location.

If such cities and towns contain public transportation routes, such

polling places must be situated along such transportation routes to the
extent practicable.

Section 2: Effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Currently, the board of elections in each county must designate early
voting locations. There must be at least one early voting location for
every full increment of 50,000 voters in each county, with a maximum
required number of locations in each county set at seven.  Polling plac-
es for early voting should 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 other such factors the board of elections deems appropri-
ate.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 2019, New York state lawmakers took historic steps in approving a
series of reforms intended to make New York's voting process easier,
more efficient, more transparent, and more accountable to its citizens.
Among these reforms were the scheduling of state and federal primaries
on the same day, automatic updating of voters' registrations when they
move, preregistration of those ages 16 and 17 prior to an election in
which they will be eligible to vote, and requirements that established
10 days of early voting which includes two full weekends prior to
elections.

With regard to early voting, the intent of the legislature was to
provide a flexible timeline within which voters can cast their ballots,
taking into account the reality that voters often have busy schedules,
vacations, and family obligations that can get in the way of voting on
election day. Early voting provides flexibility and a longer voting
process that encourages civic involvement by New York's citizens.

Key components of ensuring the success and accessibility of early voting
are the location and number of polling sites. The original legislation
set a minimum threshold for the number of polling locations, with one
polling location for each 50,000 voters.  The legislature was also care-
ful to include provisions stating that when siting polling locations,
population density, travel time, and public transportation routes should
be key considerations. These provisions recognize that inaccessibility
to early voting polling locations will undermine the utility of the
early voting program.

Following analysis of early voting polling site locations following the
2019 election cycle, the State Legislature discovered that while almost
all medium-sized cities and towns in New York had at least one early
voting polling location, not all did. Because voters in medium- to
large-sized municipalities tend to rely on public transportation (many
do not have personal automobiles) and because high population density
can make travel more time-consuming in these areas, not having a polling
location in these cities and towns can create significant barriers to
access to the voting system. The sponsor concludes that New York should
protect voter access by guaranteeing that all medium-sized cities and
towns in New York State must have at least one early voting polling
location now and in the future.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

There is no cost to the state.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To Be Determined.

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                  6925

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            December 20, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the location of polling
  sites for early voting in certain cities and towns

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

  Section  1.  Paragraph  (d)  of  subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the
election law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, is  amended  to
read as follows:
  (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
appropriate;  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  THAT IN CITIES AND TOWNS WITH A POPU-
LATION OF MORE THAN FIFTY THOUSAND BUT LESS THAN  ONE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND
BASED  ON  THE  LATEST FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS, EACH SUCH CITY AND TOWN
MUST HAVE AT LEAST ONE EARLY VOTING POLLING PLACE WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES,
AND, TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE, IF SUCH  CITIES  OR  TOWNS  HAVE  PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION  ROUTES,  SUCH POLLING PLACE SHALL BE SITUATED ALONG SUCH
TRANSPORTATION ROUTES. The provisions of section 4-104 of this  chapter,
except  subdivisions  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.
  § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.



 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD14366-03-9

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.

The New York State Senate

senate Bill S6925

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jan 9, 2020 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jan 9, 2020

Jan 9, 2020 - Elections committee Vote

Elections Committee Vote: Jan 9, 2020

Jan 9, 2020 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jan 9, 2020

Jan 8, 2020 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jan 8, 2020

Co-Sponsors

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Details

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S6925

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Alessandra Biaggi

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jan 9, 2020 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jan 9, 2020

Jan 9, 2020 - Elections committee Vote

Elections Committee Vote: Jan 9, 2020

Jan 9, 2020 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jan 9, 2020

Jan 8, 2020 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jan 8, 2020

Co-Sponsors

Neil D. Breslin

James Gaughran

Roxanne J. Persaud

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Details

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S6925 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments