What's happening
This bill allows Westchester County to merge election districts with 50 or fewer registered voters under specific conditions.
Why it matters
Improves election administration efficiency. By allowing Westchester County to merge very small election districts (with 50 or fewer registered voters), the bill enables local election officials to better allocate resources such as poll workers, voting machines, and ballot materials—potentially reducing costs and administrative burdens.
Maintains fair representation. The bill requires that merged districts remain within the same ward, town, city, village, and within the same legislative, assembly, senatorial, and congressional districts. This ensures that voters’ political representation is not changed or diluted by the mergers.
Protects voter access and prevents overcrowding. The consolidation cannot create new districts that exceed existing legal limits on the number of registered voters per district (excluding those in inactive status). This safeguard helps prevent merged districts from becoming too large, which could otherwise lead to long lines or reduced access at polling places.
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Who cares
Westchester County Board of Elections
The bill would authorize it to merge election districts with 50 or fewer registered voters into existing districts within specified shared municipal and legislative boundaries.
Voters in Westchester election districts with 50 or fewer registrants
Their election district could be merged into an existing district, subject to boundary and voter-count limits.
Voters in receiving Westchester election districts
Their districts could absorb smaller districts, but the resulting district could not exceed the existing legal maximum number of registered voters, excluding inactive registrants.
Headline styles
Merge Small Voting Districts
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-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
3930
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 31, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the consolidation of certain election districts in the county of Westchester
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 4-100 of the election law is amended by adding a new subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
2-a. Notwithstanding any provision of subdivision two of this section to the contrary, the board of elections of the county of Westchester may merge any election district with fifty or fewer registered voters into an existing election district so long as both such districts are within the same ward, town, city or village, and the same county legislative, assembly, senatorial and congressional district. Furthermore, no consolidated election district created pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed the total number of registered voters, excluding registrants in inactive status, exceed the maximum number permitted by this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06694-01-9
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.