NY State Senate Bill 2019-S7621

Senate Bill S7621

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Requires the disclosure of the applicant's social security number when registering to vote on an application for a motor vehicle driver's license

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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 31, 2020	referred to elections

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2019-S7621 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §5-212, El L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S2297

2019-S7621 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the disclosure of the applicant's social security number when registering to vote on an application for a motor vehicle driver's license.

2019-S7621 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7621

SPONSOR: JORDAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the disclo-
sure of the applicant's social security number when registering to vote
on an application for a motor vehicle driver's license

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Section 5-212 of the Election Law, requiring that any
application to vote "made simultaneously and integrated with an applica-
tion for a motor vehicle drivers' license" shall require the applicant
to provide their social security number.

Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 2019, New York State enacted Chapter 37 of the Laws of 2019 which

allowed undocumented immigrants to acquire drivers' permits and
licenses. Whatever the merits or negative effects of that law may be, it
poses a significant problem for electoral security; namely, that present
applications for drivers licenses include the ability for applicants to
register to vote, and this registration is automatically conveyed to the
board of elections. While the proponents of Chapter 37 contend that
undocumented immigrants wouldn't register to vote of their own volition,
relying on the individual judgment of others is decidedly poor public
policy and allows for a critical loophole in election law to exist.

This bill remedies some of the problems posed by Chapter 37 by amending
the election law to provide that voter registrations included with driv-
ers licenses require applicants to provide their social security number.
This will ensure that undocumented immigrants cannot register to vote
while applying for a driving privilege license, including both written
and electronic forms of applications.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Minimal.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
On the one hundred and twentieth day after the bill shall have become
law.

2019-S7621 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7621
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 31, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  JORDAN -- 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 requiring  the  disclo-
   sure  of  the  applicant's  social security number when registering to
   vote on an application for a motor vehicle driver's license

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  3  of  section 5-212 of the election law, as
 added by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
   3. The voter registration portion of such forms:
   (a) shall not require any information that duplicates the  information
 required  on  the  application  for the driver license portion and shall
 require only such  additional  information,  including  the  applicant's
 signature,  as  will enable election officials to assess the applicant's
 eligibility to register to vote, prevent duplicate registration  and  to
 administer voter registration and other parts of the election process.
   (b)  shall  include  a  statement  of the eligibility requirements for
 voter registration and shall require the applicant to attest by  his  OR
 HER  signature  that he OR SHE meets those requirements under penalty of
 perjury.
   (c) shall inform the applicant, in print identical to that used in the
 attestation section of the following:
   (i) voter eligibility requirements;
   (ii) penalties for submission of false registration application;
   (iii) that the office where applicant registers shall remain confiden-
 tial and the information be used only for voter registration purposes;
   (iv) if the applicant declines to register,  his  OR  HER  declination
 shall  remain  confidential  and  be  used  only  for voter registration
 purposes[;].
   (D) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY  PROVISION  OF  LAW  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  SHALL
 REQUIRE THE APPLICANT TO PROVIDE HIS OR HER SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
 it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
 completed on or before such effective date.

 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD15012-01-0

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