S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3234--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 2, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee 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 permitting voting at
any polling place within the same county
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new section 8-107
to read as follows:
§ 8-107. CHOICE OF POLLING PLACE. ANY VOTER REGISTERED TO VOTE IN ANY
ELECTION DISTRICT WITHIN A COUNTY OUTSIDE THE CITY OF NEW YORK SHALL BE
ENTITLED TO VOTE AT ANY POLLING PLACE WITHIN THAT COUNTY. ANY VOTER
REGISTERED TO VOTE IN ANY ELECTION DISTRICT WITHIN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
SHALL BE ENTITLED TO VOTE AT ANY POLLING PLACE WITHIN THE CITY OF NEW
YORK. EACH BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL ENSURE THAT EACH POLLING PLACE WITH-
IN ITS JURISDICTION SHALL BE EQUIPPED TO PRINT BALLOTS ON DEMAND. THE
STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL PROMULGATE REGULATIONS TO ENSURE THAT
AUDITING AND RECANVASSING OF VOTES SHALL REMAIN SIMPLE, ACCURATE,
AFFORDABLE, AND SECURE, INCLUDING BY REQUIRING MARKS ON BALLOTS TO
DETERMINE THE RELEVANT ELECTION DISTRICT SO BALLOTS CAN BE QUICKLY AND
EASILY SORTED BY ELECTION DISTRICT. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE
READ TO PERMIT A BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF POLLING
PLACES BELOW EXISTING REQUIREMENTS, AND EACH ELECTION DISTRICT SHALL
HAVE A POLLING PLACE AT WHICH PREPRINTED BALLOTS SHALL BE AVAILABLE,
WHICH SHALL BE DEEMED THE POLLING PLACE FOR SUCH ELECTION DISTRICT.
§ 2. Subdivision 3 of section 8-600 of the election law, as added by
chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
3. Any voter REGISTERED IN AN ELECTION DISTRICT OUTSIDE THE CITY OF
NEW YORK may vote at any polling place for early voting established
pursuant to subdivision two of this section in the county where such
voter is registered to vote[; provided, however, if it is impractical to
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04319-04-3
A. 3234--A 2
provide each polling place for early voting all of the election district
ballots or if early voting at any such polling place makes ensuring that
no voter has not previously voted early during such election, the board
of elections may assign election districts to a particular early voting
poll site]. ANY VOTER REGISTERED IN AN ELECTION DISTRICT WITHIN THE CITY
OF NEW YORK MAY VOTE AT ANY POLLING PLACE FOR EARLY VOTING ESTABLISHED
PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. All
voters in each county shall have one or more polling places at which
they are eligible to vote throughout the early voting period on a
substantially equal basis. [If the board of elections does not agree by
majority vote to plan to assign election districts to early voting poll
sites, all voters in the county must be able to vote at any poll site
for early voting in the county.]
§ 3. Section 4-132 of the election law is amended by adding a new
subdivision e to read as follows:
E. ON DEMAND BALLOT PRINTERS FOR INDIVIDUALS ENTITLED TO VOTE IN SUCH
POLLING PLACE WHERE BALLOTS FOR SUCH INDIVIDUAL'S ELECTION DISTRICT ARE
NOT AVAILABLE IN PRE-PRINTED FORMAT. BALLOT PRINTERS MUST BE MAINTAINED
AND SERVICED PRIOR TO EACH ELECTION. PAPERWORK MUST BE CREATED AND
SIGNED BY THE COMMISSIONERS THAT EACH BALLOT PRINTER THAT IS INTENDED TO
BE PUT INTO USE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION HAS BEEN SERVICED AND IS IN
GOOD WORKING CONDITION.
§ 4. Subdivision 9 of section 5-210 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 44 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
9. The county board of elections shall, promptly and in any event, not
later than twenty-one days after receipt by it of the application, veri-
fy the identity of the applicant. In order to do so, the county board of
elections shall utilize the information provided in the application and
shall attempt to verify such information with the information provided
by the department of motor vehicles, social security administration and
any other lawful available information source. If the county board of
elections is unable to verify the identity of the applicant within twen-
ty-one days of the receipt of the application, it shall immediately take
steps to confirm that the information provided by the applicant was
accurately utilized by such county board of elections, was accurately
verified with other information sources and that no data entry error, or
other similar type of error, occurred. Following completion of the
preceding steps, the county board of elections shall mail (a) a notice
of its approval, (b) a notice of its approval which includes an indi-
cation that such board has not yet been able to verify the identity of
the applicant and a request for more information so that such verifica-
tion may be completed, or (c) a notice of its rejection of the applica-
tion to the applicant in a form approved by the state board of
elections. Notices of approval, notices of approval with requests for
more information or notices of rejection shall be sent by nonforwardable
first class or return postage guaranteed mail on which is endorsed such
language designated by the state board of elections to ensure postal
authorities do not forward such mail but return it to the board of
elections with forwarding information, when it cannot be delivered as
addressed and which contains a request that any such mail received for
persons not residing at the address be dropped back in the mail. The
voter's registration and enrollment shall be complete upon receipt of
the application by the appropriate county board of elections. The fail-
ure of a county board of elections to verify an applicant's identity
shall not be the basis for the rejection of a voter's application,
provided, however, that such verification failure shall be the basis for
A. 3234--A 3
requiring county board of elections to take the additional verification
steps provided by this chapter. The notice shall also advise the regis-
trant of the date when his OR HER registration and enrollment is effec-
tive, of the date and the hours of the next regularly scheduled primary
or general election in which he OR SHE will be eligible to vote, of the
location of the polling [place] PLACES of the election district AND
COUNTY in which he OR SHE is or will be a qualified voter, OF THE
LOCATION OF THE POLLING PLACE OF THE ELECTION DISTRICT AND COUNTY IN
WHICH PREPRINTED BALLOTS SHALL BE AVAILABLE, whether such polling [place
is] PLACES ARE accessible to physically handicapped voters, an indi-
cation that physically handicapped voters or voters who are ill or
voters who will be out of the city or county on the day of the primary
or general election, may obtain an absentee ballot and the phone number
to call for absentee ballot applications, the phone numbers to call for
location of polling places, to obtain registration forms and the phone
number to call to indicate that the voter is willing to serve on
election day as an inspector, poll clerk or interpreter. The notice of
approval, notice of approval with request for more information or notice
of rejection shall also advise the applicant to notify the board of
elections if there is any inaccuracy. The form of such mail notification
shall be prescribed by the state board of elections and shall contain
such other information and instructions as it may reasonably require to
carry out the purposes of this section. The request for more information
shall inform the voter that "THE FAILURE TO CONTACT THE BOARD OF
ELECTIONS AND CORRECT ANY INACCURACIES IN THE APPLICATION OR PROVIDE
REQUESTED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY RESULT IN A REQUEST FOR IDENTIFICA-
TION AT THE POLLS IN ORDER TO CAST A VOTE ON A VOTING MACHINE." If such
notice is returned undelivered without a new address, the board shall
forthwith send such applicant a confirmation notice pursuant to the
provisions of section 5-712 of this article and place such applicant in
inactive status. The state board of elections shall prepare uniform
notices by this section as provided for in subdivision eight of section
3-102 of this chapter.
§ 5. Subdivision 1 of section 5-226 of the election law is amended to
read as follows:
1. If any voter has been registered in a wrong election district, the
board of elections shall, if he OR SHE is a qualified voter in any
election district within the jurisdiction of such board, change his OR
HER registration to the correct election district. The board of
elections shall thereupon give immediate notice by mail to such voter
that his OR HER registration has been corrected, and also the location
of the polling [place] PLACES of the election district in which he OR
SHE is a qualified voter.
§ 6. Subdivision 1 of section 5-500 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
1. There shall be two records of the registration of each voter.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, one record shall be sent,
at the time of every election, to the polling [place] PLACES where the
voter is entitled to vote, and shall be known as the "registration poll
record". Between elections it shall be kept in the main office or a
branch office of the board of elections. The other record shall be kept
constantly in such main office or branch office and shall be known as
the "central file registration record". The two types of records shall
be prepared in different colors.
§ 7. Subdivision 1 of section 5-601 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 599 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
A. 3234--A 4
1. [A physically disabled voter whose polling place is located in a
building that is not accessible shall be entitled to vote in any other
election district whose polling place is located in a building which is
accessible, provided that the candidates and ballot proposals on the
ballot in such other election district are the same as those on the
ballot in the election district in which such voter resides.] EACH POLL-
ING PLACE SHALL BE ACCESSIBLE.
§ 8. Subdivision 6 of section 7-122 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 411 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
6. On the reverse side of such inner affirmation envelope shall be
printed the following statement:
AFFIRMATION
I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, that I am duly
registered in the election district shown on the reverse side of this
envelope and I am qualified to vote in such district; that I will be
unable to appear personally on the day of the election for which this
ballot is voted at [the] A polling place of the election district in
which I am a qualified voter because of the reason given on my applica-
tion heretofore submitted; that I have not qualified nor do I intend to
vote elsewhere, that I have not committed any act nor am I under any
impediment which denies me the right to vote.
I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of
my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material
false statement in the foregoing statement of absentee voter, I shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.
Date.................20..... .....................................
Signature or mark of voter
.....................................
Signature of Witness (required only
if voter does not sign his or her own
name)
.....................................
Address of Witness
§ 9. Subdivision 3 of section 8-100 of the election law is amended to
read as follows:
3. In any election district in which a primary of any party is uncon-
tested, no primary of such party shall be held. In any election district
in which the primaries of all parties are uncontested on the day of any
primary election, no primaries shall be held on such day [and the poll-
ing place shall not be opened for voting].
§ 10. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.