Permits a voter to include his or her e-mail address on the voter registration form

3 Multi-sponsors

• Brian Kolb
• Mike Spano
• Fred Thiele

BILL NUMBER:A10517

Title of bill

An act to amend the election law and the legislative law, in relation to use of a person's e-mail address

Purpose or general idea of bill

It would permit a voter to include his or her e-mail address on the voter registration card.

Summary of specific provisions

§1. Of the bill provides that subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election law is changed to allow the option of including an applicant's e-mail address and a box that must be checked, in which the registrant agrees to have general, but not person-specific correspondence or newsletters from the state legislature sent electronically to the e-mail address instead of by regular mail.

§2. Amends the election law by adding a new section 8-301, which would allow the registration poll record form to utilize a person's e-mail address at the first general election occurring on or after the effective date. Each election thereafter the board of elections may attach a form to the registration poll record that would allow a person to submit their e-mail address and indicate that they agree to receive general, but not person-specific correspondence or newsletters from the state legislature sent electronically to the e-mail address instead of by regular mail.

§3. Amends the legislative law by adding section 32-b to allow newsletters and mailings to be made electronically to any person in the members' district who has agreed to receive such correspondence from a member of the legislature via e-mail. The person will only receive one mailing and will not receive a second mailing by regular mail.

Justification

It has been reported that over 100 million adults in the united States, or half of the country's adult population, now use the internet. The number of United States Internet users is projected to reach 177 million within a few years. This bill would allow the New York State legislature to replace the bulk of postal mail sent with electronic mail. More than that, by simultaneously creating a website for the district, the use of this technology would allow constituents to "electronically vote" on key issues, and respond to surveys that better support the formation of legislative policy. The other benefits of this bill to members would be the savings on

postage, printing costs, the ease of use for staff members, the timely manner in which constituents could be reached, and the environmental savings that it would have through the generation of less waste.

Prior legislative history

2008: A.5305; Held for consideration in Election Law 2007: A.5305; Referred to Election Law 2006: A.3834; Held for consideration in Election Law 2005: A.3834; Referred to Election Law 2004: A.6481; Held for consideration in Election Law 2003: A.6481; Referred to Election Law 2002: A.5112; Held for consideration in Election Law 2001: A.5112; Referred to Election Law 2000: A.10290; Held for consideration in Election Law

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately, provided, that section three of this act shall take effect on January 1, 2001.