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History
- Print number 1044a
- Amend and recommit to elections
- Referred to elections
- Referred to elections
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law, in relation to the days of voting for the primary and general elections
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of the bill is change the days of voting for the primary and general elections to weekend days rather than Tuesdays.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends paragraphs (a) and (c) of subdivision 1 of section 8-100 of the election law by changing the days of voting in "paragraph (a)" the primary election to the first Saturday and Sunday after the second Friday in September before every general election and in "paragraph (c)" in the general election to the Saturday and Sunday next succeeding the first Friday in November.
Section 2 of the bill sets forth an effective date of the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.
Justification
The long-standing tradition of holding federal elections on the first Tuesday of November began with an act of Congress in 1845. Tuesday was selected for its comparative convenience because it was a designated "court day" and the day in which land-owners would typically be in town to conduct business. The tradition was based on the then-agrarian American society.
Although polls are open in New York state on one day for a total of 15 hours (from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.), this one day voting is very inconvenient for very many people especially those who must go either before or after the work day when there are often very long lines in many polling places. As a result many voters are deterred from going to vote because of the inconvenience. Evidence of this can be seen in the fact that only 58 percent of eligible voters cast a vote in the 2012 general election.
This includes approximately 93 million eligible voters across the country who did not vote. In New York, the 2012 voter turnout was even less at approximately 53 percent of eligible voters. Changing the days for voting to weekends will allow many more eligible voters the necessary flexibility to get to their polling place and vote.
Prior legislative history
New Bill.
Fiscal implications
To Be Determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.