NY State Senate Bill S1283

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

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

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Actions

view actions (15)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 10, 2022	referred to election law delivered to assembly passed senate ordered to third reading cal.6 reported and committed to rules
Jan 05, 2022	referred to elections returned to senate died in assembly
May 26, 2021	referred to election law delivered to assembly passed senate
May 19, 2021	advanced to third reading
May 12, 2021	2nd report cal.
May 11, 2021	1st report cal.1051
Jan 08, 2021	referred to elections

Votes

view votes

Jan 18, 2022 - Rules committee Vote

S1283

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Jan 10, 2022 - floor Vote

S1283

floor

Aye

Nay

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Jan 10, 2022 - Elections committee Vote

S1283

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

show Elections committee vote details

Elections Committee Vote: Jan 10, 2022

aye (5)

nay (2)

Jan 10, 2022 - Rules committee Vote

S1283

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

May 26, 2021 - floor Vote

S1283

floor

Aye

Nay

Absent

Excused

Abstained

May 10, 2021 - Elections committee Vote

S1283

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

show Elections committee vote details

Elections Committee Vote: May 10, 2021

aye (5)

nay (2)

Co-Sponsors

view additional co-sponsors

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A4582
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §7-104, El L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S5943, A725

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the order in which candidates appear on the ballot; requires that offices shall be listed on the ballot in descending order based on the size of the electorate and requires certain federal offices to be listed before state, county or local offices.

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S1283

SPONSOR: KAMINSKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to the order in which
candidates appear on the ballot.

 
PURPOSE:

To increase voter participation by creating a standard order in which
candidates appear on the ballot.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

  Section  1 amends the election law section 7-104 to require the execu-
tive candidates to be listed first, such as the President of the  United
States  and  Governor.  Followed  by  other  federal  offices  and state
offices. Following that, offices shall be listed in The order of offices
at each level shall be listed in descending order according to the  size
of  the electorate. Parisian offices shall be listed before non-partisan

officers and before judicial candidates.

  Section 2. Effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In New York, the current ballot order is structured in a way that  judi-
cial  candidates are listed prior to congressional and state candidates.
Very few members of the public actually know who the judicial candidates
are, and these candidates are often unopposed and listed on all the same
party lines. When the Board of Elections list  the  candidates  in  this
manner  on a ballot and force candidates in competitive races to the end
of the ballot, it results in drop-offs, when voters decide on the presi-
dent for example, but leave blank all other races on  the  ballot.  Take
for example congressional races in counties with Supreme Court elections
and  those  without  -  in  Albany, without such races, the drop-off was
about 2.4% between the presidential candidates and congress  whereas  in
Nassau  drop-off  was  7.05%. More specifically, in the race for the 4th
Congressional District, there were 28,742 undervotes, whereas in Albany,
for the 20th Congressional District there were  only  4,149  people  who
decided  not to vote for this congressional position. These numbers show
that if the congressional candidates were  listed  before  the  judicial
ones  in  Nassau  County, more people would have been likely to complete
their ballots.

This bill looks  to  address  this  drop-off  issue  by  establishing  a
consistent  and  logical  structure for how the Board of Elections would
list the offices for election. Executive positions like the President of
the United States and Governor go first, followed by other  federal  and
state  offices. All candidates who do not have an affiliation to a poli-
tical office or are judicial candidates who are viewed as  non-partisan,
would  be  listed  on the latter half of the ballot. This is because the
non-partisan offices, and judges, who are often unknown and nominated by
a judicial convention, rarely run opposed and typically  get  the  nomi-
nation  of  multiple  parties,  which  is puzzling to voters. By putting
these offices on the second half of a ballot, and not in the middle,  it
will  decrease the likelihood of voters failing to complete the whole of
their ballots.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The  act  shall  take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1283
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 8, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. KAMINSKY -- 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  the  order  in  which
   candidates appear on the ballot
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 11 of section 7-104 of  the  election  law,  as
 added by chapter 411 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   11.  [The  offices  appearing  on  all  ballots shall be listed in the
 customary order] (A) THE OFFICES APPEARING ON ALL BALLOTS SHALL BE LIST-
 ED IN THE ORDER OF PRECEDENCE, AS  APPLICABLE  TO  THE  OFFICES  UP  FOR
 ELECTION  IN  ANY  GIVEN  YEAR, AS FOLLOWS:   ELECTORS FOR PRESIDENT AND
 VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, GOVERNOR AND  LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR,
 NEW  YORK  STATE  COMPTROLLER,  NEW  YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, UNITED
 STATES SENATOR, MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NEW  YORK  STATE
 SENATOR, MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY.  ANY OFFICE WHICH IS NOT
 LISTED  IN  THIS  PARAGRAPH SHALL NOT APPEAR ON THE BALLOT IN A POSITION
 BEFORE OR AHEAD OF AN OFFICE WHICH IS LISTED.
   (B) IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE OFFICES IN PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS  SUBDI-
 VISION, ALL OTHER OFFICES SHALL BE PLACED UPON THE BALLOT IN THE CUSTOM-
 ARY  ORDER;  PROVIDED,  FURTHER, THAT PARTISAN OFFICES REGARDLESS OF THE
 SIZE OF THE CONSTITUENCY SHALL BE LISTED BEFORE OR AHEAD OF  NONPARTISAN
 OFFICES  AND  ALL CANDIDATES FOR JUDICIAL OFFICES SHALL FOLLOW ALL OTHER
 PARTISAN OFFICES.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02981-01-1

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S1283

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Your Voice

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Votes

Jan 18, 2022 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jan 18, 2022

Jan 10, 2022 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jan 10, 2022

Jan 10, 2022 - Elections committee Vote

Elections Committee Vote: Jan 10, 2022

Jan 10, 2022 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jan 10, 2022

May 26, 2021 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: May 26, 2021

May 10, 2021 - Elections committee Vote

Elections Committee Vote: May 10, 2021

Co-Sponsors

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Details

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S1283

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Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jan 18, 2022 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jan 18, 2022

Jan 10, 2022 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jan 10, 2022

Jan 10, 2022 - Elections committee Vote

Elections Committee Vote: Jan 10, 2022

Jan 10, 2022 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jan 10, 2022

May 26, 2021 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: May 26, 2021

May 10, 2021 - Elections committee Vote

Elections Committee Vote: May 10, 2021

Co-Sponsors

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Details

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S1283 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments