Senate Bill S5572

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5572
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 11, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  LANZA  -- 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 exempting public school
   buildings from being designated as early polling locations
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section  8-600 of the election law is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E) NO PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING SHALL BE DESIGNATED AS AN EARLY  POLLING
 LOCATION.
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law, as amended by
 chapter 694 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible as
 a polling place if it is situated in the same or a  contiguous  election
 district,  and may contain as many distinctly separate polling places as
 public convenience may require. The expense, if any, incidental  to  its
 use,  shall be paid like the expense of other places of registration and
 voting. If a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses
 a public school building for such purpose, the  board  or  agency  which
 controls  such  building  must  make  available  a room or rooms in such
 building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as
 close as possible to a convenient entrance to  such  building  and  must
 make  available any such room or rooms which the board or body designat-
 ing such building  determines  are  accessible  to  physically  disabled
 voters as provided in subdivision one-a.  NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS
 OF  THIS  SUBDIVISION,  NO  BOARD OR BODY EMPOWERED TO DESIGNATE POLLING
 PLACES SHALL DESIGNATE A PUBLIC SCHOOL  BUILDING  AS  AN  EARLY  POLLING
 LOCATION.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  any general, special or
 local law, if a board or body  empowered  to  designate  polling  places
 chooses  a publicly owned or leased building, other than a public school
 building, for such purposes the board or body which controls such build-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD07073-01-1

 S. 5572                             2
 
 ing must make available a room or rooms in such building which are suit-
 able for registration and voting and which are as close as possible to a
 convenient entrance to such building, and must make available  any  such
 room  or  rooms which the board or body designating such building deter-
 mines are accessible to physically disabled  voters  unless,  not  later
 than thirty days after notice of its designation as a polling place, the
 board  or  body controlling such building, files a written request for a
 cancellation of such designation with the board  or  body  empowered  to
 designate  polling places on such form as shall be provided by the board
 or body making such designation. The  board  or  body  empowered  to  so
 designate  shall, within twenty days after such request is filed, deter-
 mine whether the use of such building as a polling place would unreason-
 ably interfere with the usual activities conducted in such building  and
 upon such determination, may cancel such designation.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.