S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
454--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
(PREFILED)
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC, PEOPLES-STOKES, CAHILL, COOK, DINOWITZ,
ENGLEBRIGHT, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, VANEL, ABINANTI, GRIFFIN, JACOBSON,
BARRETT, REYES, COLTON, CRUZ, EPSTEIN, WEPRIN, SIMON, OTIS, FRONTUS,
SEAWRIGHT, FAHY, DE LA ROSA, BRAUNSTEIN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
A. GLICK, LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Election Law -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the boundaries of
election districts and the designation of polling places
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 4-104 of the election law is amended by adding a
new subdivision 5-a to read as follows:
5-A. WHENEVER A CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY OF A COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY
CONTAINS THREE HUNDRED OR MORE REGISTRANTS (EXCLUDING REGISTRANTS IN
INACTIVE STATUS) WHO ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE AT AN ADDRESS ON SUCH
CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY, THE POLLING PLACE DESIGNATED FOR SUCH REGISTRANTS
SHALL BE ON SUCH CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY OR AT A LOCATION APPROVED BY THE
COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.
§ 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 4-100 of the election
law, as amended by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read
as follows:
a. Each election district shall be in compact form and may not be
partly within and partly without a ward, town, city, a village which has
five thousand or more inhabitants and is wholly within one town, THE
CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY OF A COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY WHICH CONTAINS THREE
HUNDRED OR MORE REGISTRANTS (EXCLUDING REGISTRANTS IN INACTIVE STATUS)
WHO ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE AT AN ADDRESS ON SUCH CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY, or
a county legislative, assembly, senatorial or congressional district.
Except as provided in paragraph b of this subdivision, election district
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03331-03-1
A. 454--A 2
boundaries, other than those boundaries which are coterminous with the
boundaries of those political subdivisions AND COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY
PROPERTIES mentioned in this paragraph, must be streets, rivers, rail-
road lines or other permanent characteristics of the landscape which are
clearly visible to any person without the need to use any technical or
mechanical device. An election district shall contain not more than nine
hundred fifty registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status) or,
with the approval of the county board of elections, not more than eleven
hundred fifty registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status),
but any election district may be divided for the convenience of the
voters.
§ 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the election
law, as amended by chapter 344 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The board of elections shall designate polling places for early
voting, which may include the offices of the board of elections, for
persons to vote early pursuant to this title; provided, however, that
the municipality with the highest population in each county based on the
latest federal decennial census shall have at least one polling place
designated for early voting, and to the extent practicable if such muni-
cipality has public transportation routes, such polling place shall be
situated along such transportation routes. There shall be so designated
at least one early voting polling place for every full increment of
fifty thousand registered voters in each county; provided, however, the
number of early voting polling places in a county shall not be required
to be greater than ten unless required by any other provision of law,
and a county with fewer than fifty thousand voters shall have at least
one early voting polling place. WHENEVER A CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY OF A
COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY CONTAINS THREE HUNDRED OR MORE REGISTRANTS
(EXCLUDING REGISTRANTS IN INACTIVE STATUS) WHO ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE AT
AN ADDRESS ON SUCH CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY, SUCH CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY OR A
LOCATION APPROVED BY THE COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY SHALL BE DESIGNATED AS AN
EARLY VOTING POLLING PLACE.
§ 4. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.