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Sponsors
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History
- Referred to elections
- Referred to elections
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S3692
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the hand counting of all ballots cast in an election for a position in which the difference in the ballots cast for the candidates for such position is ten or less votes or .5 percent of votes cast, whichever is greater
Purpose
This will require Boards of Elections and bipartisan committees to hand count ballots cast in elections where the difference is 10 or less votes or .5%, whichever is greater.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 adds a new subdivision 1-a to section 9-208 of the election law requiring that in an election where the difference of votes is 10 or less, or .5%, whichever is greater, there shall be a hand recount.
Justification
The election law empowers a trial judge to exercise discretion on whether or not to conduct an election recount. Allowing close contests to be decided in court turns these elections in to highly partisan battles where no one speaks for New York voters. It is essential that the voice of voters be heard above all else.
In an election where the margin is small, New Yorkers should not be forced to accept a possibly flawed electoral result for the sake of expedience or convenience. New York wisely chose a system that records the voters' intent plainly and permanently on paper ballots. It is important that New Yorkers have confidence that our voting system will accurately and faithfully represent the voice of voters.
We need to make sure that where there is a very small margin in legislative races, the will of the people should always be determined using a hand count. A complete hand recount would take only a few days at most, and would eliminate any doubt that the machines may have miscounted.
Legislative history
New Bill
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately and apply to elections conducted on or after such date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.