Provides that a voter claiming to live within an election district in which the voter seeks to vote being advised of the proper polling place and election district

Section two amends the opening paragraph of section 4-132 of the election law, as amended by chapter 164 of the laws of 1985, and adds new subdivision d which adds a sufficient number of maps, street finders or other descriptions of all polling places and election districts within the county in which the polling place is located to the list of things to be supplied by the board of elections or the town or: city clerk.

Section three amends the opening paragraph of paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section 8-302 of the election law, as amended by chapter 200 of the laws of 1996, to require a poll clerk or election inspector to consult a map, street finder or other description of all of the polling places and election districts within the county in which such election district is located in order to advise the voter of his or her correct polling place and election district. Section four defines the effective date as immediately.

Justification

The purpose of these amendments is to ensure that voters who vote by affidavit ballot have a realistic chance to exercise the franchise. A voter has the option of voting by affidavit ballot when the inspectors of election (hereinafter "poll workers") cannot find the voter's registration in the records at the polling place on election day. As recently affirmed by the Court of Appeals in Matter of Panio v. Sunderland, 4 NY3d 123, 791 NYS2d 57 (2005), affidavit ballots cast b)(voters in the wrong polling place cannot be counted. In Matter of Panio, the Court of Appeals rejected the claim that the failure to provide street finders for poll workers to consult before giving voters affidavit ballots was a ministerial error by the Board of Elections. The proposed amendments are necessary to insure that the affidavit ballot does not become what one commentator has termed a "placebo ballot," instead of a fail-safe method by which duly registered voters may vote on election day, as mandated by the Help America Vote Act (HA VA). (Ari Weisbard, "Placebo Ballots Will 'Fail-Safe' Voting Fail?," www.usa.org/pub295.cfm). The proposed amendments to Election Law §§ 4-128 and 4-132 will insure that poll workers are supplied with county-wide street finders to enable them to determine whether voters are in the correct polling place on election day. In addition, the amendment to Election Law §B-302 will mandate that poll workers have a duty to check the street finder prior to providing a voter with an affidavit ballot. Affidavit ballots are utilized by voters whose names do not appear in the registration records. A voter's name may not appear in the registration records because the registration poll record maybe lost or misplaced, the voter may have been placed on "inactive" status pursuant to Election Law §5-213, or the voter may have moved within the county and remain eligible to vote by affidavit ballot at the polling place for the voter's new residence (while his name remains in the poll book for his prior address).

The Election Law does not make it easy for voters to determine where to vote. Voters are sent a "check" card, pursuant to Election Law §4-117(1). This card is used to verify that voters are still residing at the address at which they registered to vote, as well as to advise voters of a change in the location of their polling place. However, the card must be sent more than two months before election day and it is not sent to voters whose status is "inactive." ID. In addition, because the check card is not an item that can be forwarded, it is not received by any voter who has moved. ID. So, the two largest classes of voters for whom affidavit ballots were created inactive voters and voters who have moved will never receive the cards advising them where to vote, and those voters who do receive them, will get them at some time prior to Labor Day for an election to take place in November.

For a voter who has never received notification of where to vote, or did so months before election day, it is not a simple process to go to the right polling place. And in the absence of a comprehensive street finder, a poll worker lacks the tools to direct a voter- who has ended up in the wrong place on election day. The poll workers provide the affidavit ballot to the voter. Prior to providing it to a voter whose name does not appear in the registration records for that polling place, Election Law §8-302 (1) currently provides that the poll workers have the responsibility of "verifying the right of persons to vote." However, the Election Law does not require that the poll workers ascertain whether the voter is in the polling place assigned for his or her address prior to giving the voter an affidavit ballot. And although the Board of Elections is required to provide poll workers with "a map or certified description of the election district and adjoining election districts" Election Law §5-502(1), that is insufficient to direct a voter to the correct polling place if the voter resides elsewhere in the county. In Matter of Panio, supra. 457 affidavit ballots cast by duly registered voters who were in the wrong polling place were rejected in a race that was decided by 18 votes. The evidence presented at the trial showed that in one municipality the poll workers received at most only a few pages of street finders, rather than a comprehensive list, and that some poll workers received no street finders at all (Trial Transcript, pp. 1322, 231-232). As a result, if the poll workers could not find a voter's name in their poll book, they could not determine whether the voter was in the right polling place. These voters were effectively disenfranchised.

An affidavit ballot is not a realistic alternative if it has no chance of being counted because the voter casts it in the wrong polling place. It is incumbent upon the Legislature to insure that poll workers have street finders to enable them to direct voters to the correct place and to mandate that poll workers consult the street finder before supplying a voter with an affidavit ballot.

Prior legislative history

2008 - S.6991 - Died Elections Committee

Fiscal implication

None to the state.

Effective date

Immediately.