S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
1009
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 7, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to establishing a ranked
choice voting method for presidential elections
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new article 18 to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 18
RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
SECTION 18-100. DEFINITIONS.
18-102. RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
18-104. RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD; BALLOTS.
18-106. RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD; PROCEDURES.
18-108. VOTER EDUCATION.
18-110. CONSTRUCTION.
§ 18-100. DEFINITIONS. "RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD" SHALL MEAN A
METHOD OF CASTING AND TABULATING VOTES THAT SIMULATES THE BALLOT COUNTS
THAT WOULD OCCUR IF ALL VOTERS PARTICIPATED IN A SERIES OF RUNOFF
ELECTIONS, WHEREBY THE VOTERS RANK CANDIDATES ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF
THEIR CHOICE AND, IF NO CANDIDATE HAS RECEIVED A MAJORITY OF VOTES, THE
CANDIDATE WITH THE FEWEST FIRST CHOICE VOTES SHALL BE ELIMINATED AND THE
REMAINING CANDIDATES ADVANCE TO ANOTHER COUNTING ROUND. IN EVERY ROUND,
EACH BALLOT SHALL BE COUNTED AS ONE VOTE FOR THE HIGHEST RANKED ADVANC-
ING CANDIDATE.
§ 18-102. RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 1.
RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. BEGINNING WITH THE TWO
THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR ELECTION, ALL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS SHALL BE
CONDUCTED USING THE RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02136-01-1
A. 1009 2
2. THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS IS HEREBY AUTHORIZED TO PROMULGATE
RULES AND REGULATIONS MANDATING ALL COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO CONDUCT
ALL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, INCLUDING GENERAL ELECTIONS, SPECIAL
ELECTIONS, AND PRIMARIES TO BE HELD IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR
AND FOR ALL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS HELD THEREAFTER, UTILIZING THE RANKED
CHOICE VOTING METHOD.
§ 18-104. RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD; BALLOTS. 1. NOTWITHSTANDING
THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER, OR OF ANY OTHER
PROVISION OF LAW TO THE CONTRARY, BALLOTS IN AN ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT
AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SHALL CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS
OF THIS SECTION. THE BALLOT SHALL BE SIMPLE AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND
ALLOW A VOTER TO RANK CANDIDATES IN ORDER OF CHOICE. A VOTER SHALL
INCLUDE NO MORE THAN ONE WRITE-IN CANDIDATE AMONG SUCH VOTER'S RANKED
CHOICES.
2. INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BALLOT SHALL CONFORM SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE
FOLLOWING SPECIFICATIONS, ALTHOUGH SUBJECT TO MODIFICATION, BASED ON
BALLOT DESIGN AND VOTING MACHINE:
"VOTE FOR CANDIDATES BY INDICATING YOUR FIRST-CHOICE CANDIDATES IN
ORDER OF PREFERENCE. INDICATE YOUR FIRST CHOICE BY MARKING THE NUMBER
"1" BESIDE A CANDIDATE'S NAME, YOUR SECOND CHOICE BY MARKING THE NUMBER
"2" BESIDE A CANDIDATE'S NAME, YOUR THIRD CHOICE BY MARKING THE NUMBER
"3" BESIDE A CANDIDATE'S NAME AND SO ON, FOR AS MANY CHOICES AS YOU
WISH. YOU MAY CHOOSE TO RANK ONLY ONE CANDIDATE, BUT RANKING ADDITIONAL
CANDIDATES WILL NOT HURT THE CHANCES OF YOUR FIRST-CHOICE CANDIDATE. DO
NOT MARK THE SAME NUMBER BESIDE MORE THAN ONE CANDIDATE. DO NOT RANK THE
SAME CANDIDATE MORE THAN ONCE. DO NOT SKIP NUMBERS."
3. A SAMPLE BALLOT FOR AN ELECTION SUBJECT TO THE RANKED CHOICE VOTING
METHOD SHALL ILLUSTRATE THE VOTING PROCEDURE FOR THE RANKED CHOICE
VOTING METHOD. SUCH A SAMPLE BALLOT SHALL BE INCLUDED WITH EACH ABSEN-
TEE BALLOT.
4. THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL ENSURE THAT THE NECESSARY VOTING
SYSTEM, VOTE TABULATION SYSTEM, OR OTHER SIMILAR OR RELATED EQUIPMENT
SHALL BE AVAILABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THE RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD WHERE
THE RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD IS REQUIRED BY THIS ARTICLE.
5. WHEN A CANDIDATE IS NOMINATED FOR AN OFFICE TO BE FILLED AT THE
ELECTION BY MORE THAN ONE PARTY, THE VOTING MACHINE SHALL BE SO ADJUSTED
THAT A CANDIDATE'S NAME APPEARS IN EACH ROW OR COLUMN CONTAINING GENER-
ALLY THE NAMES OF CANDIDATES FOR OTHER OFFICES NOMINATED BY ANY SUCH
PARTY.
§ 18-106. RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD; PROCEDURES. THE FOLLOWING
PROCEDURES SHALL APPLY IN DETERMINING THE WINNER IN AN ELECTION SUBJECT
TO THE RANKED CHOICE VOTING METHOD:
1. THE FIRST CHOICE MARKED ON EACH BALLOT SHALL BE COUNTED INITIALLY
BY ELECTION OFFICIALS. IF ONE CANDIDATE RECEIVES A MAJORITY OF THE
VOTES, EXCLUDING BLANK AND VOID BALLOTS, THAT CANDIDATE SHALL BE
DECLARED ELECTED.
2. IF NO CANDIDATE RECEIVES A MAJORITY OF FIRST-CHOICE VOTES AT THE
END OF THE INITIAL COUNT, THE CANDIDATE RECEIVING THE FEWEST FIRST-
CHOICE VOTES SHALL BE ELIMINATED. EACH VOTE CAST FOR THE ELIMINATED
CANDIDATE SHALL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE CANDIDATE WHO WAS THE VOTER'S NEXT
CHOICE ON THE BALLOT.
(A) IF A CANDIDATE IS NOMINATED BY MORE THAN ONE PARTY OR INDEPENDENT
BODY, THE VOTE TOTALS FROM EACH PARTY LINE CONTAINING THAT CANDIDATE
SHALL BE TREATED SEPARATELY IN THE FIRST ROUND SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF
DETERMINING EACH PARTY'S VOTE SHARE.
A. 1009 3
(B) IF A CANDIDATE IS NOMINATED BY MORE THAN ONE PARTY OR INDEPENDENT
BODY, THE VOTE TOTALS FROM EACH PARTY LINE CONTAINING THAT CANDIDATE
SHALL BE TREATED AS COMBINED IN EVERY ROUND FOR THE PURPOSES OF DETER-
MINING IF ANY CANDIDATE HAS A MAJORITY AND DETERMINING WHICH CANDIDATE
TO ELIMINATE.
(C) FOR THE PURPOSES OF SECTION 12-100 OF THIS CHAPTER, IF A WINNING
CANDIDATE IS NOMINATED BY MORE THAN ONE PARTY OR INDEPENDENT BODY AND
SUCH PARTIES OR INDEPENDENT BODIES NOMINATED MORE THAN ONE SLATE OF
CANDIDATES FOR ELECTOR OF PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, THE ELECTORS OF THE PARTY OR INDEPENDENT BODY WHOSE PARTY LINE
RECEIVED THE MOST VOTES OF SUCH PARTIES OR INDEPENDENT BODIES THAT NOMI-
NATED THE WINNING CANDIDATE IN THE FINAL ROUND SHALL BE ELECTED.
3. CANDIDATES WITH THE FEWEST VOTES SHALL CONTINUE TO BE ELIMINATED,
WITH THE VOTES FOR SUCH CANDIDATES BEING TRANSFERRED TO THE CANDIDATE
WHO WAS EACH VOTER'S NEXT CHOICE ON THE BALLOT UNTIL A CANDIDATE
RECEIVES A MAJORITY OF THE VOTES, EXCLUDING BLANK AND VOID BALLOTS. WHEN
A CANDIDATE RECEIVES A MAJORITY OF THE VOTES, SUCH CANDIDATE SHALL BE
DECLARED THE WINNER.
4. IF A BALLOT HAS NO MORE AVAILABLE CHOICES RANKED ON IT, SUCH BALLOT
SHALL BE DECLARED EXHAUSTED. WHERE A BALLOT SKIPS TWO OR MORE CONSEC-
UTIVE NUMBERS, SUCH BALLOT SHALL BE DECLARED EXHAUSTED WHERE THE SKIP-
PING OF NUMBERS BEGINS ON SUCH BALLOT. A BALLOT WITH THE SAME NUMBER FOR
TWO OR MORE CANDIDATES SHALL BE DECLARED EXHAUSTED WHERE THE DOUBLE
NUMBERS BEGIN ON SUCH BALLOT.
5. WHERE A TIE IS REACHED BETWEEN CANDIDATES FOR LAST PLACE, AND THUS
ELIMINATION, OCCURRING AT ANY STAGE IN THE TABULATION, THE TIE SHALL BE
RESOLVED SO AS TO ELIMINATE THE CANDIDATE WHO RECEIVED THE LEAST NUMBER
OF VOTES AT THE PREVIOUS STAGE OF TABULATION. IN THE CASE OF A TIE TO
WHICH A PREVIOUS STAGE DOES NOT APPLY, OR SUCH PREVIOUS STAGE WAS ALSO A
TIE, THE TIE SHALL BE RESOLVED BY DRAWING LOTS. HOWEVER, IF THE TIE
OCCURS WHEN THERE ARE ONLY TWO CANDIDATES REMAINING, THE TIE SHALL BE
RESOLVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
§ 18-108. VOTER EDUCATION. THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL CONDUCT A
VOTER EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ON THE RANKED CHOICE VOTING SYSTEM TO FAMILIAR-
IZE VOTERS WITH THE BALLOT DESIGN, METHOD OF VOTING, AND ADVANTAGES OF
DETERMINING A MAJORITY WINNER IN A SINGLE ELECTION.
§ 18-110. CONSTRUCTION. ALL ELECTIONS HELD BY THE RANKED CHOICE VOTING
METHOD PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE SUBJECT TO ALL THE OTHER
PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER AND ALL OTHER APPLICABLE LAWS RELATING TO
ELECTIONS, SO FAR AS IS APPLICABLE AND NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THIS ARTI-
CLE.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.