What's happening
This bill moves the voter registration deadline for special town elections from the 23rd to the 10th day before the election.
Why it matters
Shortening the voter registration deadline to 10 days before special town elections gives residents more time to register and participate. , potentially increasing civic engagement and making it easier for late-deciding or new residents to vote.
Town clerks and election officials will need to process and update voter rolls more quickly. , which could create administrative challenges but also means voter lists are more current and accurate for special town elections.
If a town opts not to hold personal registration sessions, only those registered by the new 10-day deadline will be eligible to vote. , making awareness of the new cutoff crucial for both voters and town governments to avoid disenfranchisement.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Shorten Voter Registration Deadline
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to election law
- Referred to election law
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3427
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, JAFFEE, GALEF, ABINANTI -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BUCHWALD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the town law, in relation to registration to vote
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 84 of the town law, as amended by chapter 281 of the laws of 1998, is amended and a new subdivision 7 is added to read as follows:
5. In order to assist boards of registration in the preparation of their registers, the town clerk, prior to the first meeting of such boards of registration, shall obtain from the board of elections of the county in which such town is located, the list of names and addresses of all voters registered with such board of elections on or before the [twenty-third] tenth day before such special election. The town clerk shall deliver the names and addresses of qualified voters to the appropriate board or boards of registration on or before the first meeting of such board or boards. At the first and subsequent meetings of the board of registration for each voting place designated by the town board for such special town election, such board of registration shall place on the register described in subdivision four hereof the names of all qualified voters and all other qualified voters who personally appear, and those military voters and such other voters who are absent by reason of confining illness or physical disability or whose duties, occupation or business required them to be outside of the state of New York, having the qualifications of voters prescribed in this section and who have made application for absentee ballots as certified to them by the town clerk.
7. In the event a town board does not elect to provide personal registration for a special town election, no person shall be entitled to vote unless they are registered to vote with the board of elections on the tenth day before such election.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06327-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.