Authorizes full-time college students to act as election inspectors and poll clerks in the election district where their colleges are located

4 Co-sponsors

• Liz Krueger
• John L. Sampson
• Malcolm A. Smith
• Toby Ann Stavisky

BILL NUMBER:S543

Title of bill

An act to amend the election law, in relation to the appointment of college and university students as election inspectors

Purpose

Permits boards of elections to hire college and university students as elections inspectors without compliance with certain requirements.

Summary of provisions

Amends the election law to add a new subdivision 6-a to section 3-400 which authorizes local boards of election to recruit full-time students from college and university in the city or county to serve as election inspectors, even if they do not reside in that city or county. Such student election inspectors would be exempt from the current county residency requirements, but must be registered voters residing in New York state, and meet all other existing statutory requirements.

Justification

Every year at election time, election districts around the state are plagued by a shortage of trained staff to operate as elections inspectors at local polling places. One consequence of this chronic shortage is that several election districts are often forced to vote in a single polling place, an inconvenience for voters who would prefer to cast their ballots closer to home and an administrative nightmare for election workers who must maintain and close down several machines. In a presidential election year or a year with several hotly contested races, these staffing shortages are felt more acutely. In some areas of New York city, voters were forced to wait for 2-3 hours to cast their ballots during the 2000 General Election.

To ensure that every New Yorker can fully participate in the election process, we need to increase the number of trained election inspectors. New recruitment is especially important now because many of the current inspectors are senior citizens and will retire from their poll watching duties in the next few years. I propose that New York solve its election inspector shortage by exploiting a heretofore untapped labor pool college students. By recruiting young people as inspectors, New York will help alleviate a current crisis while ensuring an adequate pool of polling place personnel for many years to come.

Legislative history

2002 - A.4823 - Referred to Elections 2004 - A.3243 - Referred to Elections 2006 - S.4427 - Referred to Elections 2008 - S.2255 - Referred to Elections 2010 - S.1837 - Referred to Elections; Passed Senate

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.