Let Voters Choose Any Polling Place

Section 1. Article 8 of the election law is amended by adding a new title 6 to read as follows:

TITLE VI

ON DEMAND VOTING Section 8-600. Right to on demand voting.

8-602. On demand voting; method of.

§ 8-600. Right to on demand voting. Voters in the state of New York shall have the right to vote in any polling place within their county by requesting a ballot that corresponds with the ballot they would receive from their assigned polling place, having a copy of such ballot made and having such ballot cast.

§ 8-602. On demand voting; method of. 1. An on demand voter shall receive their ballot, fill it out, and submit such ballot in the same manner as a traditional voter with the following exceptions:

(a) Upon requesting a ballot from a poll worker, an on demand voter shall give his or her full name and address. The poll worker shall then use the official statewide voter registration list to determine that the on demand voter is registered to vote within the county. If the on demand voter is registered within the same county as the district they are attempting to vote in, the poll worker shall print an official on demand ballot for the on demand voter's district and supply them with an on demand affirmation envelope instead of the ballot for the district they are voting in. If the on demand voter is not registered to vote within the same county, the on demand voter shall be treated as if a traditional voter attempting to vote in the wrong district with the exception that they are supplied an on demand ballot and on demand

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD03330-01-9

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affirmation envelope for the district they say they are registered to vote in.

(b) Upon an on demand voter sealing and completing the affirmation envelope in the voting area, such envelope shall be deposited into a secure on demand ballot box.

2. Once the polls are closed and no one in the district is allowed to cast a ballot in a district's place of voting, the on demand ballot box shall be immediately brought to the board of elections. On demand ballots received by the board of elections shall be retained at the board of elections and cast and canvassed pursuant to the provisions of section 9-209 of this chapter.

§ 2. The election law is amended by adding a new section 7-132 to read as follows:

§ 7-132. Ballots; on demand. 1. Ballots for on demand voters shall be in the same form as those to be used in the on demand voters' district on election day except the ballot shall have the words "On Demand Ballot", endorsed thereon.

2. The board of elections shall furnish with each on demand ballot an on demand affirmation envelope. On one side of the envelope shall be printed:

OFFICIAL ON DEMAND BALLOT

for

GENERAL (OR PRIMARY OR SPECIAL) ELECTION, ............., 20.......

Name of voter.........................................

Residence (street and number if any)..................

City/or town of.......(village, if any)...............

County of.............................................

Assembly district ....................................

Legislative District (as applicable) .................

Ward (as applicable) .................................

Election District.....................................

Party Enrollment (in case of primary election)........

3. The date of the election, name of the county, and name of a city, if there be a separate ballot for city voters, shall be printed, and the name of the voter, residence, number of the assembly district, if any, name of town, number of ward, if any, election district and party enrollment, if required, shall be written onto the envelope by the on demand voter.

4. There shall also be a place for two inspectors of opposite political parties to indicate, by placing their initials thereon, that they have checked and marked the voter's poll record.

5. On the reverse side of such affirmation envelope shall be printed the following statement:

AFFIRMATION

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I do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, that I am duly registered in the election district shown on the reverse side of this envelope and I am qualified to vote in such district; that I have not qualified nor do I intend to vote elsewhere, that I have not committed any act nor am I under any impediment which denies me the right to vote. I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I understand that if I make any material false statement in the foregoing statement of on demand voter, I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Date.................20..... ........................................

Signature or mark of voter

........................................

Signature of Witness (required only

if voter does not sign his own name)

........................................

Address of Witness

6. Upon the on demand ballot being marked and inserted into a completed affirmation envelope, the affirmation envelope shall be sealed and deposited into the district's secure on demand ballot box.

§ 3. Section 9-124 of the election law, as amended by chapter 334 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:

§ 9-124. Returns of canvass, procedure after. 1. After the returns of the canvass are made out and signed, the inspectors shall enclose the protested and void ballots and the ballots cast in affidavit envelopes in a separate sealed envelope or envelopes and endorse thereon a certificate signed by each of them stating the number of the district and the number of ballots contained in such envelope or envelopes. The inspectors shall enclose the unscanned voted ballots canvassed in accordance with section 9-110 of this title in a separate sealed envelope and endorse thereon a certificate signed by each of them stating the number of the district and the number of ballots contained in such envelope. The inspectors shall then package and seal the other voted ballots and place them in one or more boxes or containers, and include within such boxes or containers one portable memory device from each ballot scanner pursuant to paragraph (d) of subdivision two of section 9-102 of this title, and any absentee, on demand, military, special federal, or special presidential ballots which may have been delivered to the poll site during election day, and securely lock and seal such boxes or containers. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, such portable memory device from each ballot scanner with the corresponding results tape may be enclosed in a sealed container and transported prior to and separately from other materials referenced in this section for the purpose of using such device to provide an unofficial tally of results as required by section 9-126 of this title.

2. Each box, envelope, or container containing the ballots and stubs, if any, and all items described in subdivision one of this section shall be deposited by an inspector designated for that purpose with the officer or board from whom or which the board of inspectors received it. In the city of New York, every such box, envelope, or container shall be delivered at the polling place to police or peace officers designated by

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the police commissioner of such city, who shall deposit them with the board of elections.

3. (a) Except in the city of New York, the registration poll records or computer generated registration lists, the returns of canvass with results tapes and tally sheets, if any, annexed, the voted ballots, stubs, opened packages of unused ballots and ballot envelopes, any absentee, on demand, military, special federal, or special presidential ballots which may have been delivered to the poll site during election day, the challenge records and the package of protested and void ballots shall be filed with the board of elections.

(b) Records and supplies to be filed with a city, town or village clerk shall be so filed or delivered immediately after the completion of the returns of the canvass, by an inspector designated by the board of inspectors. Returns, papers and registration poll records or computer generated registration lists to be filed with the board of elections shall be so filed by the chairman of the board of inspectors within twenty-four hours after the completion of such returns. The person receiving such returns in the board of elections shall give to the person delivering the returns a receipt stating therein the date and hour of delivery, the name of the person making the delivery, and to whom said returns were delivered and shall keep a duplicate of said receipt on file in the office of the board of elections.

(c) The county legislative body of any county in the state except the counties comprising the city of New York may, by a resolution, ordinance or act as required, provide that all returns, papers, registration poll records or computer generated registration lists, books, records, documents, and other election supplies and materials shall be filed by the chairman of the board of inspectors of elections in a city or town and in a village in which elections are conducted by the board of elections, with the city, town or village clerk of such city, town or village in the county within eighteen hours after the closing of the polls at any primary, general, special or village election and the city, town or village clerk upon receiving such returns, papers, registers or lists, books, records, documents, and other election supplies and materials shall give to the person making the delivery, a receipt stating therein the date and hour of the delivery and the name of such person. Within twenty-four hours after the closing of the polls at any primary, general, special or village election, the city, town or village clerk shall file all returns, papers, registration poll records or computer generated registration lists, books, records, documents and other election supplies and materials filed with him by the inspectors of the election districts of the city, town or village, with the board of elections of the county and the board of elections shall give to the city, town or village clerk a receipt therefor stating therein the date and hour of the delivery and the name of the person making the delivery and to whom it was made, and shall keep a duplicate of said receipt on file in the office of the board of elections.

(d) In the city of New York, the board of inspectors shall deliver to police or peace officers designated by the police commissioner of such city, at the polling place the registration poll records or computer generated registration lists, challenge report, records, keys, other election supplies, including two copies of the returns of the canvass and any absentee, on demand, military, special federal, or special presidential ballots which may have been delivered to the poll site during election day, voted ballots, stubs, open packages of unused ballots and ballot envelopes. Such police or peace officers shall file the returns,

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the package of void and protested ballots, if any, and the absentee, on demand, military, special federal, special presidential, and emergency ballots, stubs and ballot envelopes, if any, within twenty-four hours after the close of the polls, in the office of the board of elections or its branch office within the borough, as the case may be.

§ 4. Subdivision 3 of section 3-222 of the election law, as amended by chapter 282 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows: