NY State Senate Bill 2021-S516

Senate Bill S516

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to the time period during which absentee ballots shall be mailed or delivered after an application for such ballot is received by the board of elections

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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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to elections returned to senate died in assembly
Jan 11, 2021	referred to election law delivered to assembly passed senate ordered to third reading cal.5 reported and committed to rules
Jan 06, 2021	referred to elections

Votes

- Jan 11, 2021 - Floor Vote
  S516
  
  43
  
  Aye
  
  20
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Jan 11, 2021
      
      aye (43)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Bailey
      
      Benjamin
      
      Biaggi
      
      Breslin
      
      Brisport
      
      Brooks
      
      Brouk
      
      Comrie
      
      Cooney
      
      Felder
      
      Gaughran
      
      Gianaris
      
      Gounardes
      
      Harckham
      
      Hinchey
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Jackson
      
      Kaminsky
      
      Kaplan
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Liu
      
      Mannion
      
      May
      
      Mayer
      
      Myrie
      
      Parker
      
      Persaud
      
      Ramos
      
      Reichlin-Melnick
      
      Rivera
      
      Ryan
      
      Salazar
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Serrano
      
      Skoufis
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Thomas
      
      nay (20)
      
      Akshar
      
      Borrello
      
      Boyle
      
      Gallivan
      
      Griffo
      
      Helming
      
      Jordan
      
      Lanza
      
      Martucci
      
      Mattera
      
      O'Mara
      
      Oberacker
      
      Ortt
      
      Palumbo
      
      Rath III
      
      Ritchie
      
      Serino
      
      Stec
      
      Tedisco
      
      Weik
  Jan 11, 2021 - Rules Committee Vote
  S516
  
  14
  
  Aye
  
  6
  
  Nay
  
  1
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Rules Committee Vote: Jan 11, 2021
      
      aye (14)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Bailey
      
      Benjamin
      
      Breslin
      
      Comrie
      
      Gianaris
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Liu
      
      Mayer
      
      Parker
      
      Savino
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      nay (6)
      
      Boyle
      
      Gallivan
      
      Lanza
      
      O'Mara
      
      Ortt
      
      Ritchie
      
      aye wr (1)
      
      Griffo
  Jan 11, 2021 - Elections Committee Vote
  S516
  
  5
  
  Aye
  
  2
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Elections Committee Vote: Jan 11, 2021
      
      aye (5)
      
      Brouk
      
      Kavanagh
      
      May
      
      Mayer
      
      Myrie
      
      nay (2)
      
      Rath III
      
      Ritchie

co-Sponsors

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2021-S516 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9376
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §8-406, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S8917
2023-2024: S1501, A1364

2021-S516 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the time period during which absentee ballots shall be mailed or delivered after an application for such ballot is received by the board of elections.

2021-S516 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S516

SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to the time period during
which absentee ballots shall be mailed or delivered after an application
for such ballot is received by the board of elections

 
PURPOSE:

This bill establishes a sliding scale of mandatory turnaround timeframes
for the processing of absentee ballot applications and ballot issuance
by boards of elections.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends Election Law 8-406 to establish in law
fixed timeframes for when absentee ballots must be mailed or delivered
to voters. No such requirement exists under current law.  Under the
proposal, mailing or delivery of an absentee ballot must occur no later

than 46 days before the day of the election if the application was
received at least 60 days beforehand.

If the application is received by a board of elections after the sixti-
eth day before an election but no later than the forty-sixth day before
such election then such mailing or delivery of the ballot must occur no
later than the forty-second day before the day of the election.

If the application is received by a board of elections after the forty-
sixth day before an election but no later than the thirtieth day before
such election then such mailing or delivery of the ballot must occur
within four days of receipt.

If the application is received by a board of elections after the thirti-
eth day before an election but no later than the fifteenth day before
such election then mailing or delivery of the ballot must occur within
three days of receipt.

If the application is received by the board of elections after the
fifteenth day before an election then mailing or delivery of the ballot
must occur within two days of receiving the application.  If the appli-
cation is received timely postmarked by mail after the seventh day
before the day of the election, the board shall make ,every reasonable
effort to mail or deliver at the board of elections the ballot on the
day the application is received.

If the application is delivered in person after the seventh day before
the day of the election and no later than the day before the election,
the board shall make every reasonable effort to deliver at the board of
election on the day the application is received.

Section two of the bill is the effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

2020: Died in Rules.

 
JUSTIFICATION:
Recently the legislature conducted a joint hearing to review the 2020
June primary election held during the COVID-19 pandemic and how to
improve election administration for the November general election.  One
of the issues raised in testimony was the fact that voters have no way
to check whether their absentee ballot application has been processed in
a timely manner, and as such, no way to know when to expect receiving a
ballot back in the mail. This is an especially important problem to
resolve during the COVID-19 pandemic considering the volume of voters
who are new to voting by absentee ballot. More than 1.7 million absentee
ballots were requested for the 2020 June primary in New York State and
as of July 1, nearly 1 million of those ballots had been returned. In
the 2016 presidential primary, only 115,000 absentee ballots were
returned. An even higher volume of absentee ballots are expected to be
requested for a predictably higher-turnout, presidential-year election
in November.

This proposal would establish clear deadlines for the processing of this
critical information so voters know how long it may take to receive a
ballot based on when they specifically applied to vote absentee.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S516 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    516
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. GIANARIS -- 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 time period  during
   which  absentee ballots shall be mailed or delivered after an applica-
   tion for such ballot is received by the board of elections
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  8-406 of the election law, as amended by chapter
 296 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows:
   § 8-406. Absentee ballots, delivery of. If the board shall  find  that
 the  applicant  is a qualified voter of the election district containing
 his OR HER residence as stated in his OR HER statement and that  his  OR
 HER  statement  is sufficient, it shall, as soon as practicable after it
 shall have determined his OR HER right thereto, mail to him OR HER at an
 address designated by him OR HER, or deliver to him OR HER,  or  to  any
 person  designated  for  such  purpose  in writing by him OR HER, at the
 office of the board, such an absentee voter's ballot or set  of  ballots
 and  an  envelope  therefor.  SUCH  MAILING  OR DELIVERY AT THE BOARD OF
 ELECTIONS SHALL OCCUR NO LATER THAN THE FORTY-SIXTH DAY BEFORE  THE  DAY
 OF  THE  ELECTION  IF THE APPLICATION WAS RECEIVED BY THE BOARD AT LEAST
 SIXTY DAYS BEFORE THE DAY OF THE ELECTION; AND IF  THE  APPLICATION  WAS
 RECEIVED  BY  THE  BOARD  AFTER  THE  SIXTIETH DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE
 ELECTION, BUT NO LATER THAN THE FORTY-SIXTH DAY BEFORE THE  DAY  OF  THE
 ELECTION,  THE BOARD SHALL MAIL OR DELIVER AT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS THE
 ABSENTEE BALLOT NO LATER THAN THE FORTY-SECOND DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE
 ELECTION; AND IF THE APPLICATION WAS RECEIVED BY  THE  BOARD  AFTER  THE
 FORTY-SIXTH  DAY  BEFORE  THE DAY OF THE ELECTION, BUT NO LATER THAN THE
 THIRTIETH DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE ELECTION, THE BOARD  SHALL  MAIL  OR
 DELIVER  AT  THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS THE ABSENTEE BALLOT WITHIN FOUR DAYS
 OF RECEIVING THE ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION; AND IF THE APPLICATION WAS
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03246-01-1

 S. 516                              2
 
 RECEIVED BY THE BOARD AFTER THE THIRTIETH DAY  BEFORE  THE  DAY  OF  THE
 ELECTION,  BUT  NO  LATER  THAN  THE FIFTEENTH DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE
 ELECTION, THE BOARD SHALL MAIL OR DELIVER AT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS  THE
 ABSENTEE  BALLOT  WITHIN  THREE  DAYS  OF  RECEIVING THE ABSENTEE BALLOT
 APPLICATION; AND IF THE APPLICATION WAS RECEIVED BY THE BOARD AFTER  THE
 FIFTEENTH  DAY  BEFORE  THE  DAY  OF  THE ELECTION BUT NO LATER THAN THE
 SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE ELECTION,  THE  BOARD  SHALL  MAIL  OR
 DELIVER  AT  THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS THE ABSENTEE BALLOT WITHIN TWO  DAYS
 OF  RECEIVING  THE ABSENTEE  BALLOT APPLICATION; AND IF THE  APPLICATION
 WAS  RECEIVED TIMELY POSTMARKED BY MAIL AFTER THE SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE
 DAY OF THE ELECTION, THE BOARD SHALL MAKE  EVERY  REASONABLE  EFFORT  TO
 MAIL  OR  DELIVER  AT  THE  BOARD OF ELECTIONS THE BALLOT ON THE DAY THE
 APPLICATION IS RECEIVED; AND IF THE APPLICATION WAS DELIVERED IN  PERSON
 AFTER  THE  SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE ELECTION AND NO LATER THAN
 THE DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION,  THE  BOARD  SHALL  MAKE  EVERY  REASONABLE
 EFFORT  TO  DELIVER  THE BALLOT AT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS ON THE DAY THE
 APPLICATION IS RECEIVED. If the ballot or ballots are to be sent outside
 of the United States to a country other  than  Canada  or  Mexico,  such
 ballot  or  ballots  shall be sent by air mail. However, if an applicant
 who is eligible for an absentee ballot is a resident of a facility oper-
 ated or licensed by, or under the jurisdiction  of,  the  department  of
 mental hygiene, or a resident of a facility defined as a nursing home or
 residential  health care facility pursuant to subdivisions two and three
 of section two thousand eight hundred one of the public health law, or a
 resident of a hospital or  other  facility  operated  by  the  Veteran's
 Administration of the United States, such absentee ballot need not be so
 mailed  or  delivered to any such applicant but, may be delivered to the
 voter in the manner prescribed by section 8-407 of this chapter if  such
 facility  is located in the county or city in which such voter is eligi-
 ble to vote.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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