What's happening
This bill requires certain election filings to be received by boards of elections by the deadline, not just postmarked, and allows counties to extend office hours for filings with proper notice.
Why it matters
Stricter filing deadlines could prevent last-minute mail submissions from being counted,. which may impact candidates or parties that rely on mail delivery close to the deadline and potentially lead to more rejected filings due to mailing delays.
The new "received by" requirement for key election documents in New York City (and optionally in other counties) creates a uniform, predictable standard for when filings must physically arrive,. reducing ambiguity and disputes over postmark dates but placing more responsibility on filers to ensure timely delivery.
Counties outside New York City can opt in to these stricter rules and midnight office hours, but only after passing a resolution with public notice requirements,. which increases transparency and allows local boards to tailor rules to local needs, while also providing ample communication to party officials and the public.
Once a county chooses to extend office hours for filings, it must continue to do so until it formally votes to stop—and all such changes must be widely publicized,. helping ensure consistency in election administration and preventing abrupt or poorly communicated changes that could disadvantage filers.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Tighten Election Filing Deadlines
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.885
- Referred to elections
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.678
- Print number 2787a
- Amend and recommit to elections
- Referred to elections
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Tighten Election Filing Deadlines
In Assembly Committee · Election Law · Sponsor Amy Paulin
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2787--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 17, 2017
Introduced by Sen. AKSHAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to filing of papers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 1-106 of the election law, as amended by chapter 700 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
1. (a) All papers required to be filed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall, unless otherwise provided, be filed between the hours of nine A.M. and five P.M. If the last day for filing shall fall on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the next business day shall become the last day for filing. All papers sent by mail in an envelope postmarked prior to midnight of the last day of filing shall be deemed timely filed and accepted for filing when received[, except that all].
(b) All certificates and petitions of designation or nomination, certificates of acceptance or declination of such designations and nominations, certificates of substitution for such designations or nominations and objections and specifications of objections to such certificates and petitions required to be filed with the board of elections of the city of New York must be actually received by such city board of elections on or before the last day to file any such petition, certificate or objection and such office shall be open for the receipt of such petitions, certificates and objections until midnight on the last day to file any such petition, certificate or objection. Failure of the post office or any other person or entity to deliver any such petition, certificate or objection to such city board of elections on or before such last day shall be a fatal defect.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04280-03-7
S. 2787--A 2
(c) Upon the adoption of a resolution by a county board of elections, the election commissioners of a county outside of the city of New York may provide that all certificates and petitions of designation or nomination, certificates of acceptance or declination of such designations and nominations, certificates of substitution for such designations or nominations and objections and specifications of objections to such certificates and petitions required to be filed with the board of elections of such county must be actually received by such county board of elections on or before the last day to file any such petition, certificate or objection and such office shall be open for the receipt of such petitions, certificates and objections until midnight on the last day to file any such petition, certificate or objection. Failure of the post office or any other person or entity to deliver any such petition, certificate or objection to such board of elections on or before such last day shall be a fatal defect. Such resolution shall be adopted no later than March first of the year in which it shall be effective.
(i) The resolution adopted by a county board of elections shall be posted prominently in the offices of the board of elections and shall be posted on such board of elections website. The local board of elections adopting such a resolution may use any media source available to it to publish the resolution adopted by the board. In addition, such resolution shall be filed with the state board of elections no later than five days after its adoption. The chairpersons of all party committees within such county shall be provided written notice of the adoption of such resolution no later than five days after its adoption. The state board of elections shall make this information available on its website.
(ii) Any board of elections choosing to accept filings until midnight of the last day for filing, pursuant to the terms of this chapter, shall continue to receive filings in such manner until a resolution discontinuing such practice is adopted by the county board of elections. The resolution discontinuing such practice shall be adopted no later than March first of the year in which it shall be effective, and shall be published and posted in the same manner as a resolution requiring filing by midnight on the last day for filing.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law, in relation to filing of papers
Purpose
This act creates a provision allowing a county board of elections to adopt a resolution in order to stay open until midnight on the last day of a filing period.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of section 1-106 of the election law and states that upon the adoption of a resolution by a county board of elections, the election commissioners of a county outside of the city of New York may provide that such county board of elections office can stay open for the receipt of filings until midnight on the last day to file any such filing. Failure of the post office or any other person or entity to deliver any such filing to the board of elections on or before such last day shall be a fatal defect. Such resolution shall be adopted not later than March first of the year in which it shall be effective.
Read the full memo (693 words)
This section also provides that the resolution adopted by a county board of elections shall be posted prominently in the offices of the board of elections and shall be posted on such board of elections web site. The local board of elections adopting such a resolution may use any media source available to it to publish the resolution adopted by the board. There is also a provision requiring that the resolution be filed with the state board of elections.
Finally, this section provides that any board of elections choosing to accept filings until midnight of the last day for filing shall continue to receive filings in such manner until a resolution discontinuing such practice is adopted by the County Board of Elections. A deadline for such resolution is set and it shall be published and posted in the same manner as a resolution requiring filing by midnight on the last day for filing.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
Justification
Under current election law, filing papers must be received by a board of elections between 9 A.M. and 5 P.M, except in New York City where the board of elections is required to stay open until midnight on the last day to file such papers. This legislation creates a new provision allowing a county board of elections to adopt a resolution to accept filings until midnight on the last day of a filing period. County board of elections that choose to adopt such a resolution will have to accept filings until midnight on every last day of a filing period, meaning the last date for every type of filing, including specifications.
Currently, candidates can postmark and mail a filing on the last day to file, resulting in the process being delayed through time spent waiting for the mailing to arrive. This legislation would make every filing date certain, since filing papers would have to be received by a board of elections by midnight on the last day to file a particular filing. Extending the time for filing will be beneficial because it can increase electoral access for candidates. The extension would support the concept of open government, especially for non-incumbents who have not had experience with the filing process for elections. Also, post offices now have reduced service hours so candidates are limited in terms of when they can mail a filing. Furthermore, this legislation will help to align the state with the statutory provisions for filing currently codified for New York City. It will give counties statewide the ability to take advantage of the extended filing times available to the New York City Board of Elections.
Legislative history
2016 - S.7964: Reported and Committed to Rules. 2016 - A.10463: Referred to Election Law.
Fiscal implications
This bill will result in increased costs to keep the county boards open later. However, some costs will be saved because of the ability to make each filing date certain and prevent delay in waiting periods to receive mailed filings.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.