The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  1115--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              January 7, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  PAULIN, GALEF, ABINANTI, DICKENS, GOTTFRIED,
   PICHARDO, REYES, J. RIVERA, SAYEGH, MONTESANO, SIMON, DeSTEFANO, COOK,
   EPSTEIN, KELLES, McDONALD, WOERNER,  L. ROSENTHAL,  LUPARDO,  JACKSON,
   RAJKUMAR,  FORREST,  CARROLL,  BURDICK,  DINOWITZ,  BICHOTTE HERMELYN,
   THIELE,  ENGLEBRIGHT,  JACOBSON,  FAHY,  DURSO,  GALLAGHER,   MAMDANI,
   NORRIS,   TAGUE,   BURGOS,  DE LA ROSA,  ANDERSON,  BRABENEC,  TAYLOR,
   BARRETT, McDONOUGH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. MIKULIN  --  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  construction  of  and
   requirements for voting machines and systems
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraphs b, e, j, s and t of  subdivision  1  of  section
 7-202  of the election law, as added by chapter 181 of the laws of 2005,
 are amended and five new paragraphs u, v, w, x and y are added  to  read
 as follows:
   b.  permit  a  voter to vote for any person for any office, whether or
 not nominated as a candidate by any party or  independent  body  without
 the  ballot,  or any part thereof, being removed from the machine at any
 time AFTER THE BALLOT IS CAST;
   e. [provide the voter an opportunity to  privately  and  independently
 verify  votes  selected and the] REQUIRE THE USE OF AN INDIVIDUAL, DURA-
 BLE, VOTER-VERIFIABLE PAPER BALLOT OF THE VOTER'S  VOTE  THAT  SHALL  BE
 PRIVATELY  AND INDEPENDENTLY MARKED IN THE POLLING PLACE AND MADE AVAIL-
 ABLE FOR PRIVATE AND INDEPENDENT  INSPECTION  AND  VERIFICATION  BY  THE
 VOTER  BEFORE  THE VOTER'S VOTE IS CAST AND COUNTED, AND PROVIDE FOR THE
 VOTER'S ability to privately and  independently  change  such  votes  or
 correct any error before the ballot is cast and counted;

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02135-13-1

 A. 1115--A                          2
 
   j.  [retain all paper ballots cast or produce and retain a voter veri-
 fied permanent paper record which shall be presented to the  voter  from
 behind  a window or other device before the ballot is cast,] PRODUCE AND
 RETAIN A PAPER BALLOT WHICH CAN BE VERIFIED AND CAST BY THE VOTER  in  a
 manner  intended  and  designed  to  protect  the  privacy of the voter,
 INCLUDING STORING THE BALLOTS CAST IN RANDOM ORDER AND NOT  SEQUENTIALLY
 OR  CHRONOLOGICALLY  AS  CAST  BY VOTERS; such ballots [or record] shall
 allow a manual audit and shall  be  preserved  in  accordance  with  the
 provisions of section 3-222 of this chapter;
   s.  permit alternative language accessibility pursuant to the require-
 ments of section 203 of  the  Voting  Rights  Act  of  1965  (42  U.S.C.
 1973aa-1a)  such  that  it  must  have  the capacity to display the full
 ballot in the alternative  languages  required  by  the  federal  Voting
 Rights  Act  if  such  voting machine or system is to be used where such
 alternative languages are required or where the local board  deems  such
 feature necessary; [and]
   t.  not  include  any  device  or functionality potentially capable of
 externally transmitting or receiving data via the internet or via  radio
 waves or via other wireless means[.];
   U.  BE  CONSTRUCTED  SO  THAT,  AFTER  THE PAPER BALLOT IS CAST BY THE
 VOTER, THE VOTING MACHINE OR SYSTEM NEVER PASSES THE CAST BALLOT UNDER A
 PRINTER THAT CAN PRINT VOTES ONTO THE BALLOT, INCLUDING AS A  RESULT  OF
 UNAUTHORIZED,  MALICIOUS  OR  FAULTY SOFTWARE OR FIRMWARE, PROVIDED THAT
 MACHINES PURCHASED PRIOR TO JUNE  FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-ONE  MAY
 CONTINUE TO BE USED;
   V.  BE  CONSTRUCTED  SO THE CONFIGURATION OR FUNCTIONALITY OF A VOTING
 MACHINE OR SYSTEM DOES NOT INCLUDE BALLOT MARKING AND TABULATING  WITHIN
 THE SAME PHYSICAL DEVICE, PROVIDED THAT MACHINES PURCHASED PRIOR TO JUNE
 FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE MAY CONTINUE TO BE USED;
   W.  NOT UTILIZE, FOR THE PROCESS OF VOTE CASTING AND CANVASSING, A BAR
 CODE, MATRIX CODE OR ANY KIND OF RECORDING CODE THAT CANNOT BE  VERIFIED
 BY THE VOTER WITHOUT USING A CODE-READING DEVICE;
   X.  PERMIT  THE  COUNTING  OF BALLOTS BY HAND OR PERMIT THE READING OF
 BALLOTS WITH AN OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION DEVICE; AND
   Y. USE DURABLE PAPER BALLOTS PRINTED AND MANUFACTURED  IN  THE  UNITED
 STATES THAT ARE NOT PRINTED ON THERMAL PAPER.
   §  2.  Subdivision 4 of section 7-202 of the election law, as added by
 chapter 181 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
   4. Local boards of elections which obtain voting machines pursuant  to
 this  chapter  [may determine to] SHALL purchase [direct recording elec-
 tronic machines or]  optical  scan  machines  in  conformance  with  the
 requirements of this chapter.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.