Senate Bill S8656

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8656

SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing an amendment
to section 1 of article 2 of the constitution, in relation to allowing
only citizens to vote at elections

 
PURPOSE:

To ensure the right to vote in New York is entitled only to American
citizens.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Provides clarifying language to Section 1, Article 2 of the
New York State Constitution to ensure only American citizens can vote in
New York elections.

Section 2: The foregoing amendment be referred to the first regular
legislative session convening after the next succeeding general election
              

of members of the assembly, and, in conformity with section 1 of article
19 of the constitution, be published for 3 months previous to the time
of election.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The sacred right to vote is an exclusive right for law-abiding American
citizens. For years, there has been an effort to permit convicted felons
to vote before they have completed the term of their sentence, as well
as an effort to allow noncitizens to vote in their local elections. This
has culminated in New York City passing local laws to allow non-citizens
the right to vote in municipal elections.

At its core, expanding the ability to vote to non-citizens will diminish
the voting power of everyday law-abiding American citizens.  People want
more faith in the integrity of our elections, not less.  We welcome new
people to our nation and state, but they should only be permitted to
vote after they are fully committed to our country and have become a
citizen of the United States.

This proposed amendment would supersede any effort to expand the right
to vote to non-citizens at the local level and allow such an important
decision to be made by New York voters through a referendum if the bill
passed the Assembly and Senate was signed by the Governor.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
To be determined.