Relates to completing and filing watcher certificates and the form and manner of challenges of voter qualifications

Summary of provisions

Section one amends 4-117 of the election law to require a copy of any non-board of elections mailing, used as a basis to challenge the qualifications of a voter on election day, to be filed with the board of elections and require the sender and/or purchaser of such mailing to file a form with the board of elections.

Section two amends 8-500 of the election law to require the state board of elections to prescribe a poll watcher certificate form. Such certificate shall be given to an election inspector at the applicable polling site.

Section three amends 8-502 of the election law to require any person, other than an inspector, to execute and deliver a challenge affidavit prior to challenging the qualifications of a voter on election day.

Section four adds a new section, 8-503, to the election law to require the state board of elections prescribe the content and form of an election day challenge affidavit.

Section five amends 8-508 of the election law to require the challenge report to include not only the name of the voter challenged, but to include the name of the person who challenged such voter, if such person is not an election inspector.

Section six amends 8-510 of the election law to include each watcher certificate and challenge affidavit inside the ledger of registration records or computer generated registration lists.

Section seven amends 17-100 of the election law to add the terms intimidate or practices intimidation.

Section eight amends section 17-108 of the election law to include watcher certificates, challenge reports and challenge affidavits.

Section nine amends section 17-150 of the election law to create a presumption that a person is guilty of intimidating voters, when such person challenges the qualifications of at least ten voters during an election, that are subsequently investigated by the board of elections and found by the board of elections to be qualified to vote, when such voters were challenged.

Section ten contains the effective date.

Justification

During the 2012 presidential election and 2013 primary and general elections, the Office of the Attorney General operated an Election Day hotline to protect minority-language speakers, people with disabilities and other persons' ability to vote. The hotline was staffed with lawyers from the Attorney General's Civil Rights Bureau who received and responded to numerous election-related complaints from across the state.

Unfortunately, the Attorney General received several reports of baseless challenges to voter-eligibility at two predominantly African-American polling sites and other unwarranted challenges throughout New York. These baseless challenges not only intimidate many New Yorkers seeking to exercise their Constitutionally-protected right to vote, but also subject those challenged to harassment. Voters whose right to cast a ballot is challenged are required to recite an oath affirming their right to vote. The challenger on the other hand, has no such obligation. In fact, the challenger is not required to do anything at all.

The Voter Intimidation Prevention Act ("Act") seeks to correct this imbalance. Those who challenge registered voters will be required to state the actual basis of their challenge and affirm their right to challenge such voter. Incredibly, these requirements are already law in New York when an applicant, seeking to register to vote, is challenged. However, no such protections exists at the polls on Election Day.

This inconsistency in the Election law must be changed.

Legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal impact on the state

None.

Effective date

This act will take effect one year after it shall become law.