Relates to the method of transportation for the return of unused paper ballots within the city of New York

Additionally, the bill makes clear that voted ballots cannot remain in an unsecured location, but instead must be returned to the board of elections the night before.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 2 of section 9-124 of the election law to provide that voted ballots, along with those ballots not yet canvassed be returned on election night to the county board of elections. The section also requires the election inspectors in the city of New York to secure all packages of unused ballots in a designated container at the poll site upon the close of the polls for later retrieval by the board of elections.

Section 2 is the effective date.

Justification

The bill makes clear in statute what is current practice in many county boards of election, which is to return all election day voted materials that night. Securing the prompt return of the voted ballots on election night is a critical part of securing the election. We are no longer living in a lever voting machine world. Under the implementation of HAVA we are moving to all paper ballots this year. At the end of the night inspectors will be left with an electronic ballot scanner, hundreds or even thousands of paper ballots that have been scanned through the machine and deposited into a locked box below, as well as election day paper ballots that have been cast but not scanned, affidavit ballots and all the leftover unused paper ballots. Leaving all of paper unsecured creates a situation ripe for fraud.

It is easy to imagine a scenario in a close election where all of the paper ballots from several election districts are left at a town hall overnight and the next day the container with all of the ballots is gone, as well as the container containing the microchip from the scanner that must be removed at the end of the night from the machine. Now there is

absolutely no way, aside from what was called into the board of elections to independently confirm the election results.

This issue is central to ballot security. Bringing all of the paper ballots back to the board is important because it will maintain a chain of custody. In a close election that is being litigated it will be critical to know what that chain of custody is.

Currently, at the close of the polls, police and peace officers in the city of New York retrieve, transport and deliver all election day results, including any unused ballots, to the board of elections. The inclusion of unused ballots may be significantly more difficult when New York begins using optical scan voting machines and all voters vote on a paper ballot because many of the officers use their own personal vehicles to make the delivery and space may not be available for all the unused ballots. This bill would allow the board of elections to provide secure storage containers at each poll site to allow the unused ballots to remain at the poll site until the following day when they are picked up by the board. It is important to note that the City of New York has purchased thousands of secure metal storage containers in which to lock the unused ballots. Furthermore, all cast ballots will still be taken back by the officer on duty, continuing the chain of custody.

Prior legislative history

New bill. Passed Assembly earlier this session on consent.

Fiscal implication

None.

Effective date

This bill would take effect immediately.