What's happening
The bill requires colleges or universities with 300 or more registered voters to have on-campus polling places for elections.
Why it matters
Expands student access to voting. By mandating polling places on college campuses with 300 or more registered voters, the bill directly addresses barriers that often prevent students from voting, such as transportation or unfamiliarity with off-campus locations.
May increase youth voter turnout. Placing polling locations where large numbers of young voters reside could lead to higher participation rates among college students, a demographic with historically lower turnout.
Requires coordination with colleges and local election boards. The provision allowing colleges to approve alternative locations gives institutions some input, which can help ensure security, accessibility, and minimal disruption to campus operations.
Could influence local election logistics and resources. Local election boards will need to allocate additional resources to set up on-campus polling sites, potentially reshaping how elections are staffed and funded in areas with large college populations.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Campus Polling Places
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Assembly Member · Assembly District 25
28 Co-sponsors
- Crystal Peoples-Stokes
- David Buchwald
- Kevin Cahill
- Vivian Cook
- Jeffrey Dinowitz
- Steven Englebright
- Sandy Galef
- Richard Gottfried
- Ellen C. Jaffee
- Clyde Vanel
- Thomas Abinanti
- Judy Griffin
- Jonathan Jacobson
- Didi Barrett
- Anthony D'Urso
- Karines Reyes
- Walter T. Mosley
- William Colton
- Catalina Cruz
- Harvey Epstein
- David Weprin
- Jo Anne Simon
- Steven Otis
- Mathylde Frontus
- Rebecca Seawright
- Patricia Fahy
- Carmen De La Rosa
- Edward Braunstein
3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Amended on third reading 5661a
- Restored to third reading
- Substitution reconsidered
- Substituted by S4378
- Ordered to third reading cal.218
- Substituted by S4378
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.136
- Rules report cal.136
- Reported
- Reported referred to rules
- Reported referred to ways and means
- Referred to election law
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.
Polling Places on Campuses
In Assembly Committee · Ways And Means · Sponsor Kevin S. Parker
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5661--A Cal. No. 218
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC, PEOPLES-STOKES, BUCHWALD, CAHILL, COOK, DINOWITZ, ENGLEBRIGHT, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, JAFFEE, VANEL, ABINANTI, GRIFFIN, JACOBSON, BARRETT, D'URSO, REYES, MOSLEY, COLTON, CRUZ, EPSTEIN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GLICK, LIFTON, LUPARDO -read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law -- ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the boundaries of election districts and the designation of polling places
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 4-104 of the election law is amended by adding a new subdivision 5-a to read as follows:
5-a. Whenever a contiguous property of a college or university contains three hundred or more registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status) who are registered to vote at an address on such contiguous property, the polling place designated for such registrants shall be on such contiguous property or at a location approved by the college or university.
§ 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 4-100 of the election law, as amended by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
a. Each election district shall be in compact form and may not be partly within and partly without a ward, town, city, a village which has five thousand or more inhabitants and is wholly within one town, the contiguous property of a college or university which contains three hundred or more registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status) who are registered to vote at an address on such contiguous property, or a county legislative, assembly, senatorial or congressional district. Except as provided in paragraph b of this subdivision, election district boundaries, other than those boundaries which are coterminous with the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01288-02-9
A. 5661--A 2
boundaries of those political subdivisions and college or university properties mentioned in this paragraph, must be streets, rivers, railroad lines or other permanent characteristics of the landscape which are clearly visible to any person without the need to use any technical or mechanical device. An election district shall contain not more than nine hundred fifty registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status) or, with the approval of the county board of elections, not more than eleven hundred fifty registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status), but any election district may be divided for the convenience of the voters.
§ 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the election law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The board of elections shall designate polling places for early voting, which may include the offices of the board of elections, for persons to vote early pursuant to this title. There shall be so designated at least one early voting polling place for every full increment of fifty thousand registered voters in each county; provided, however, the number of early voting polling places in a county shall not be required to be greater than seven, and a county with fewer than fifty thousand voters shall have at least one early voting polling place. Whenever a contiguous property of a college or university contains three hundred or more registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status) who are registered to vote at an address on such contiguous property, such contiguous property or a location approved by the college or university shall be designated as an early voting polling place.
§ 4. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.
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.