What's happening
This bill clarifies absentee ballot qualifications and limits who may deliver ballots, adding certification requirements for designated recipients.
Why it matters
Restricts ballot collection. by limiting any one person to receiving no more than two absentee ballots per election, which aims to reduce potential for ballot harvesting and increase election integrity.
Disqualifies candidates from collecting ballots. for others in the same election, addressing concerns about conflicts of interest and undue influence in the absentee voting process.
Requires a signed certification. from anyone designated to pick up an absentee ballot for another voter, including personal information and a legal affirmation under penalty of perjury, which adds a layer of accountability and traceability.
Narrows the allowed delivery address. for absentee ballots to either the voter’s registration address or a current temporary address, reducing the possibility of ballots being sent to unrelated or unverified locations.
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Who cares
Absentee voters
The bill would limit mailed ballots to their voter-registration address or a temporary address where they currently live, rather than any address they designate.
People designated to pick up absentee ballots
The bill would cap pickups at two ballots per election and require a signed certificate carrying the same penalties for material false statements as a sworn affidavit.
Election candidates
The bill would bar candidates from serving as designated ballot recipients and require pickup recipients to certify they are not candidates in the given election cycle.
State and local boards of elections
The state board would provide the pickup certificate, and local boards would require designated recipients to complete it before releasing ballots.
Headline styles
Clarify Absentee Ballot Rules
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
4 Multi-sponsors
History
- Referred to election law
- Referred to election law
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1474
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 12, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, COLTON, JAFFEE, GOODELL, STIRPE -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CROUCH, LUPARDO, McDONALD, OAKS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to clarifying the qualification to receive an absentee ballot and clarifying the process for delivery of an absentee ballot
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 8-406 of the election law, as amended by chapter 296 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows:
§ 8-406. Absentee ballots, delivery of. 1. If the board shall find that the applicant is a qualified voter of the election district containing his or her residence as stated in his or her statement and that his or her statement is sufficient, it shall, as soon as practicable after it shall have determined his or her right thereto, mail to him or her at [an] the address [designated by him] from which the applicant is registered to vote or a temporary address where he or she is currently living, or deliver to him or her, or to any person designated for such purpose in writing by him or her, at the office of the board, such an absentee voter's ballot or set of ballots and an envelope therefor. No person may be designated to receive more than two absentee ballots in a given election. No person who is a candidate in the election in which an applicant has requested the absentee ballot may be a person designated to receive ballots. If the ballot or ballots are to be sent outside of the United States to a country other than Canada or Mexico, such ballot or ballots shall be sent by air mail. However, if an applicant who is eligible for an absentee ballot is a resident of a facility operated or licensed by, or under the jurisdiction of, the department of mental hygiene, or a resident of a facility defined as a nursing home or residential health care facility pursuant to subdivisions two and three of section two thousand eight hundred one of the public health law, or a
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04297-01-7
A. 1474 2
resident of a hospital or other facility operated by the Veteran's Administration of the United States, such absentee ballot need not be so mailed or delivered to any such applicant but, may be delivered to the voter in the manner prescribed by section 8-407 of this [chapter] title if such facility is located in the county or city in which such voter is eligible to vote.
2. Prior to delivering an absentee ballot to a person designated by a voter to receive such ballot, the local board of elections shall require such person to fill out a certificate providing his or her name and address, and to certify that he or she has not received the ballots of more than two voters for such election and is not a candidate in the given election cycle. Such certificate shall be provided by the state board of elections and shall have the following language above the space where such designated person places their signature: I CERTIFY THAT THE INFORMATION IN THIS SIGNATURE IS TRUE AND CORRECT AND UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CERTIFICATE WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR ALL PURPOSES AS THE EQUIVALENT OF AN AFFIDAVIT AND, IF IT CONTAINS A MATERIAL FALSE STATEMENT, SHALL SUBJECT ME TO THE SAME PENALTIES AS IF I HAD BEEN DULY SWORN. Such certificate shall be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit and if it contains a material false statement shall subject the person signing it to the same penalties as if he or she had been duly sworn.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
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Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.