Senate Bill S5259

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5259
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 28, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- 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  directing  the  state
   board of elections to conduct a study on the implementation and impact
   of ranked choice voting in New York state

   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  3-228
 to read as follows:
   §  3-228.  RANKED CHOICE VOTING STUDY. 1. DEFINITIONS. FOR THE PURPOSE
 OF THIS SECTION:
   (A) "RANK" MEANS THE NUMBER ASSIGNED ON A  BALLOT  BY  A  VOTER  TO  A
 CANDIDATE  TO  EXPRESS  THE  VOTER'S PREFERENCE FOR THAT CANDIDATE. RANK
 NUMBER ONE IS THE HIGHEST RANKING, RANK NUMBER TWO IS THE  NEXT  HIGHEST
 RANKING, AND SO ON.
   (B) "RANKED CHOICE ELECTION" MEANS ANY ELECTION IN WHICH RANKED CHOICE
 VOTING  IS USED AND ALL CANDIDATES ARE NOMINATED BY INDEPENDENT NOMINAT-
 ING PETITION.
   (C) "RANKED CHOICE VOTING" MEANS THE METHOD OF CASTING AND  TABULATING
 VOTES IN WHICH VOTERS RANK CANDIDATES IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE, TABULATION
 PROCEEDS  IN  ROUNDS  IN WHICH LAST PLACE CANDIDATES ARE ELIMINATED, AND
 THE VOTES FOR ELIMINATED  CANDIDATES  ARE  REDISTRIBUTED  BASED  ON  THE
 VOTER'S NEXT RANK UNTIL ONE CANDIDATE RECEIVES A MAJORITY OF THE NON-EX-
 HAUSTED  VOTES.  THE  CANDIDATE  WITH  THE MAJORITY OF THE NON-EXHAUSTED
 VOTES WINS THAT ELECTION.
   2. THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL CONDUCT A STUDY ON THE IMPLEMEN-
 TATION AND IMPACT OF RANKED CHOICE VOTING IN NEW  YORK  STATE  FOR  BOTH
 PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS. THE STUDY SHALL INCLUDE, BUT SHALL NOT BE
 LIMITED TO: THE IMPACT ON VOTER TURNOUT, CAMPAIGN DONATIONS, COSTS ASSO-
 CIATED WITH IMPLEMENTING RANKED CHOICE VOTING, DATA SECURITY, AVAILABIL-
 ITY  OF  CONTRACTORS AND SOFTWARE TO IMPLEMENT RANKED CHOICE VOTING, THE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09143-01-3
              

 S. 5259                             2
 
 AMOUNT OF TIME IT WOULD TAKE TO CALCULATE WINNERS  UNDER  RANKED  CHOICE
 VOTING  COMPARED  TO  CONVENTIONAL  PLURALITY  ELECTIONS,  AND NUMBER OF
 CANDIDATES COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL PLURALITY ELECTIONS.
   (A)  THE STUDY MAY ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF RANKED CHOICE VOTING IN OTHER
 STATES AND IN LOCAL ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
   (B) THE STATE BOARD OF  ELECTIONS  SHALL  SOLICIT  INPUT  FROM  COUNTY
 BOARDS  OF  ELECTION  ACROSS  THE  STATE, AND THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF
 ELECTIONS, AND OTHERS WITH EXPERTISE IN  THE  ADMINISTRATION  AND  REGU-
 LATION OF ELECTIONS.
   3.  NOT  LATER THAN ONE YEAR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION,
 THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL TRANSMIT TO THE  TEMPORARY  PRESIDENT
 OF  THE  SENATE  AND  THE  SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY A REPORT ON THE STUDY
 CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF  THIS  SECTION,  INCLUDING  ANY
 RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO BEST IMPLEMENT RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR PRIMA-
 RY  AND GENERAL ELECTIONS STATEWIDE.  THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL
 ALSO MAKE THIS REPORT PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE ON ITS WEBSITE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.