NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8446

Senate Bill S8446

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Provides that party designation of certain candidates for nomination for any office to be filled by the voters of the entire county shall be made by the county committee

download bill text pdf

Current 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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 30, 2024	referred to elections

2023-S8446 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A253
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Add §6-109, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: A10912
2019-2020: A1766
2021-2022: A1449

2023-S8446 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to party nominations for candidates for county office, excluding counties located within cities with a population of one million or more.

2023-S8446 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8446

SPONSOR: BRESLIN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to certain party nomi-
nations for candidates for county office

 
PURPOSE:

To provide that party designation of a candidate for nomination for any
office be filled by the voters of the entire county shall be made by the
county committee and eliminate unnecessary petitioning for designated
candidates.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends election law to add a new section 6-109 that will
outline the process by which party designation of a candidate for nomi-
nation for any office will be filled by the voters of an entire county
by county committee members, excluding counties located within a city
having a population greater than 1 million. This process will allow

candidates receiving a majority vote of the county committee to be
placed on the primary ballot without petitioning. Additionally, candi-
dates who receive more than 25% of the committee vote will alsoò be
granted access to the primary ballot. Candidates will also still be able
to gather petitions to access the primary ballot.

Section 2. Establishes the effective date:

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently under New York State Election Law, individuals who desire to
run for political office are required to obtain signed petitions in a
burdensome petition process to qualify to appear on the ballot. The
process of gathering these signatures takes extensive time, effort and
resources. The goal of getting candidates on the ballot can be accom-
plished more efficiently by removing the burden of gathering petition
signatures for those candidates who are designated by their parties.
This legislation would serve to eliminate the need to circulate
petitions for party designated candidates, at the political parties'
option.

Recent events have made the need for these changes more urgent. Moving
the petitioning period from early-Summer to Winter has made the process
increasing political polarization has made the petitioning process more
dangerous. In a recent election, someone circulating a petition had a
gun drawn on them when they mistakenly went to the wrong address.

The difficulty of the petitioning process is also negatively impacting
our democracy. Many rural party committees are finding it almost impos-
sible to recruit new committee members due to the petitioning require-
ments. It also, means that many candidates face no opposition from the
other major party in many races. Creating an alternate method for candi-
dates to access the ballot will promote more competitive elections. In
fairness to primary challengers, this legislation borrows from the stat-
ute for statewide elected officials where candidates who receive at
least 25% of the vote at the convention are ò also placed on the primary
ballot. Finally, this bill still allows the use of petitions to access
the primary ballot.  In summary, modernizing our ballot access process
will strengthen our party committees and encourage more candidates to
come forward.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: A.1449; 2019-2020: A.1725; 2018: A.10912

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2023-S8446 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8446
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 30, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. BRESLIN -- 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  certain  party  nomi-
   nations for candidates for county office
 
   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  6-109
 to read as follows:
   § 6-109. PARTY NOMINATIONS; COUNTIES, EXCLUDING COUNTIES LOCATED WITH-
 IN CITIES WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE. 1. PARTY DESIGNATION
 OF  A  CANDIDATE  FOR NOMINATION IN COUNTIES, EXCLUDING COUNTIES LOCATED
 WITHIN A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE, FOR  ANY  OFFICE
 TO  BE  FILLED  BY  THE VOTERS OF THE ENTIRE COUNTY SHALL BE MADE BY THE
 COUNTY COMMITTEE, IF THE PARTY RULES OF SUCH COUNTY SO PROVIDE.
   2. THE COUNTY COMMITTEE SHALL MAKE SUCH DESIGNATION BY MAJORITY  VOTE.
 THE  PERSON  RECEIVING THE MAJORITY VOTE SHALL BE THE PARTY'S DESIGNATED
 CANDIDATE FOR NOMINATION AND ALL OTHER PERSONS WHO SHALL  HAVE  RECEIVED
 TWENTY-FIVE  PERCENT  OR  MORE OF THE VOTE CAST ON ANY BALLOT SHALL HAVE
 THE RIGHT TO MAKE WRITTEN DEMAND, DULY ACKNOWLEDGED, TO THE COUNTY BOARD
 OF ELECTIONS THAT THEIR NAMES APPEAR ON THE PRIMARY BALLOT AS CANDIDATES
 FOR SUCH NOMINATION. SUCH DEMAND SHALL BE MADE NOT LATER THAN SEVEN DAYS
 AFTER SUCH MEETING AND MAY BE WITHDRAWN IN THE SAME MANNER WITHIN  FOUR-
 TEEN  DAYS  AFTER SUCH MEETING. UPON THE VOTE FOR SUCH DESIGNATION, EACH
 MEMBER OF THE COUNTY COMMITTEE SHALL BE ENTITLED TO  CAST  A  NUMBER  OF
 VOTES  WHICH  SHALL  BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RATIO WHICH THE NUMBER OF
 VOTES FOR THE PARTY CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR ON THE LINE OR COLUMN OF  THE
 PARTY AT THE LAST PRECEDING GENERAL STATE ELECTION IN THE UNIT OF REPRE-
 SENTATION  SUCH  MEMBER  REPRESENTS BEARS TO THE TOTAL VOTE CAST ON SUCH
 LINE OR COLUMN AT SUCH ELECTION FOR SUCH CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR  IN  THE
 ENTIRE COUNTY. THE APPORTIONMENT OF SUCH VOTES AS SO PRESCRIBED SHALL BE
 DETERMINED BY THE RULES OF THE PARTY.
   3.  ENROLLED MEMBERS OF THE PARTY MAY MAKE OTHER DESIGNATIONS BY PETI-
 TION FOR A MEMBER OF THE SAME PARTY.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00314-03-4

 S. 8446                             2
 
   4. THE MEETING OF THE COUNTY COMMITTEE FOR THE PURPOSE OF  DESIGNATING
 CANDIDATES  SHALL  BE  HELD  NOT EARLIER THAN TWENTY-ONE DAYS BEFORE THE
 FIRST DAY TO SIGN DESIGNATING PETITIONS AND NOT LATER THAN THE FIRST DAY
 TO SIGN DESIGNATING PETITIONS FOR THE PRIMARY ELECTION.
   5.  WITHIN  FOUR  DAYS  AFTER SUCH MEETING, THE COUNTY COMMITTEE SHALL
 FILE WITH THE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS:
   (A) THE NAMES OF THE PERSONS WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE DESIGNATION OF  THE
 COUNTY COMMITTEE AND THE OFFICES FOR WHICH DESIGNATED; AND
   (B)  THE NAMES OF THE PERSONS SELECTED BY THE COMMITTEE TO FILL VACAN-
 CIES OR A CERTIFIED COPY OF THE PARTY RULE EMPOWERING SUCH COMMITTEE  TO
 FILL VACANCIES.
   6. NO PERSON MAY BE DESIGNATED BY A COUNTY COMMITTEE FOR MORE THAN ONE
 OFFICE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
   7.  PARTY DESIGNATION OF A CANDIDATE FOR ANY OFFICE CONTAINED WITHIN A
 COUNTY SHALL BE DESIGNATED BY THE COUNTY COMMITTEE MEMBERS  REPRESENTING
 THE  POLITICAL  SUBDIVISION  OF  SUCH OFFICE, IF THE PARTY RULES OF SUCH
 COUNTY SO PROVIDE.
   8. A CANDIDATE FOR OFFICE FROM A DISTRICT WHICH CROSSES  COUNTY  LINES
 SHALL  BE  DESIGNATED BY THE COUNTY COMMITTEE MEMBERS FROM SUCH DISTRICT
 IF THE RULES OF THE COUNTY COMMITTEES OF EACH SUCH COUNTY SHALL  ALL  SO
 PROVIDE.
   §  2.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
 applicable elections held on or after such date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.