STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ S. 1099 A. 775 2019-2020 Regular Sessions SENATE - ASSEMBLY January 10, 2019 ___________ IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. CARLUCCI, ADDABBO, BAILEY, BENJAMIN, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, BROOKS, COMRIE, GAUGHRAN, GIANARIS, GOUNARDES, HARCK- HAM, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAMINSKY, KAPLAN, KAVANAGH, KENNEDY, KRUEGER, LIU, MARTINEZ, MAY, MAYER, METZGER, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE, PARKER, PERSAUD, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SAVINO, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, STEWART-COUSINS, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, LAVINE, L. ROSENTHAL, GLICK, ENGLEBRIGHT, CRESPO, LUPARDO, FAHY, COLTON, MOSLEY, ABINANTI, ZEBROWSKI, OTIS, SIMON, ROZIC, JAFFEE, BUCHWALD, RYAN, CUSICK, PAULIN, HEVESI, CARROLL, GALEF, RAMOS, LIFTON, VANEL, D'URSO, SEAWRIGHT, WRIGHT, NIOU, BLAKE, BURKE, CRUZ, EICHENSTEIN, EPSTEIN, FALL, FRONTUS, GRIFFIN, HEASTIE, JACOBSON, McMAHON, RAYNOR, REYES, THIELE, WEINSTEIN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BRONSON, CAHILL, COOK, GOTTFRIED -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to voter registration transfers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 4, and 8 of section 5-208 of the election 2 law, subdivisions 1 and 8 as amended by chapter 200 of the laws of 1996, 3 subdivision 4 as added by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, are amended 4 and a new subdivision 9 is added to read as follows: 5 1. The board of elections shall transfer the registration and enroll- 6 ment of any voter appearing on a statewide voter list pursuant to subdi- 7 vision one of section 5-614 of this article for whom it receives a 8 notice of change of address to another address in [~~the same county or~~ 9 ~~city~~] New York state, or for any voter who [~~casts~~] submits a ballot in 10 an affidavit ballot envelope which sets forth such a new address. Such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01332-02-9

S. 1099 2 A. 775 1 notices shall include, but not be limited to, notices received from any 2 state agency which conducts a voter registration program pursuant to the 3 provisions of sections 5-211 and 5-212 of this title, that the voter has 4 notified such agency of a change of address in [~~the same city or county~~] 5 New York state unless the voter has indicated that such change of 6 address is not for voter registration purposes, notices of change of 7 address from the United States Postal Service through the National 8 Change of Address System, any notices of a forwarding address on mail 9 sent to a voter by the board of elections and returned by the postal 10 service, national or state voter registration forms, confirmation mail- 11 ing response cards, United States Postal Service notices to correspond- 12 ents of change of address, applications for registration from persons 13 already registered in [~~such county or city~~] New York state, or any other 14 notices to correspondents sent to the board of elections by such voters. 15 4. If such application for registration from a voter already regis- 16 tered in [~~such county or city~~] New York state also reflects a change of 17 enrollment, the board of elections shall treat such application as an 18 application for change of enrollment pursuant to section 5-304 of this 19 article. 20 8. If the board of elections receives notice of a change of address 21 within [~~such city or county~~] New York state from, or with respect to, a 22 person who it determines is not registered in [~~such county or city~~] New 23 York state, it shall forthwith send such person a notice to that effect 24 in a form approved by the state board of elections at the new address 25 set forth in such notice of change of address, together with a voter 26 registration form. 27 9. The state board of elections shall promulgate regulations as to the 28 procedures for transferring a voter from one county to another. 29 § 2. Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section 30 8-302 of the election law, as amended by chapter 164 of the laws of 31 2010, is amended to read as follows: 32 (ii) He or she may swear to and subscribe an affidavit stating that he 33 or she has duly registered to vote, the address in such election 34 district from which he or she registered, that he or she remains a duly 35 qualified voter in such election district, that his or her registration 36 poll record appears to be lost or misplaced or that his or her name 37 and/or his or her signature was omitted from the computer generated 38 registration list or that he or she has moved within [~~the county or~~ 39 ~~city~~] New York state since he or she last registered, the address from 40 which he or she was previously registered and the address at which he or 41 she currently resides, and at a primary election, the party in which he 42 or she is enrolled. The inspectors of election shall offer such an affi- 43 davit to each such voter whose residence address is in such election 44 district. Each such affidavit shall be in a form prescribed by the 45 state board of elections, shall be printed on an envelope of the size 46 and quality used for an absentee ballot envelope, and shall contain an 47 acknowledgment that the affiant understands that any false statement 48 made therein is perjury punishable according to law. Such form 49 prescribed by the state board of elections shall request information 50 required to register such voter should the county board determine that 51 such voter is not registered and shall constitute an application to 52 register to vote. The voter's name and the entries required shall then 53 be entered without delay and without further inquiry in the fourth 54 section of the challenge report or in the place provided at the end of 55 the computer generated registration list, with the notation that the 56 voter has executed the affidavit hereinabove prescribed, or, if such

S. 1099 3 A. 775 1 person's name appears on the computer generated registration list, the 2 board of elections may provide a place to make such entry next to his or 3 her name on such list. The voter shall then, without further inquiry, 4 be permitted to vote an affidavit ballot provided for by this chapter. 5 Such ballot shall thereupon be placed in the envelope containing his or 6 her affidavit, and the envelope sealed and returned to the board of 7 elections in the manner provided by this chapter for protested official 8 ballots, including a statement of the number of such ballots. 9 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 4-117 of the election law, as amended by 10 chapter 3 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows: 11 1. The board of elections, between August first and August fifth of 12 each year, shall send by mail on which is endorsed such language desig- 13 nated by the state board of elections to ensure postal authorities do 14 not forward such mail but return it to the board of elections with 15 forwarding information, when it cannot be delivered as addressed and 16 which contains a request that any such mail received for persons not 17 residing at the address be dropped back in the mail, a communication, in 18 a form approved by the state board of elections, to every registered 19 voter who has been registered without a change of address since the 20 beginning of such year, except that the board of elections shall not be 21 required to send such communications to voters in inactive status. The 22 communication shall notify the voter of the days and hours of the ensu- 23 ing primary and general elections, the place where he appears by his 24 registration records to be entitled to vote, the fact that voters who 25 have moved or will have moved from the address where they were last 26 registered must [~~re-register or, that if such move was to another~~ 27 ~~address in the same county or city, that such voter may~~] either notify 28 the board of elections of his new address or vote by paper ballot at the 29 polling place for his new address even if such voter has not re-regis- 30 tered, or otherwise notified the board of elections of the change of 31 address. If the primary will not be held on the first Tuesday after the 32 second Monday in September, the communication shall contain a conspicu- 33 ous notice in all capital letters and bold font notifying the voter of 34 the primary date. If the location of the polling place for the voter's 35 election district has been moved, the communication shall contain the 36 following legend in bold type: "YOUR POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN CHANGED. YOU 37 NOW VOTE AT..........". The communication shall also indicate whether 38 the polling place is accessible to physically disabled voters, that a 39 voter who will be out of the city or county on the day of the primary or 40 general election or a voter who is ill or physically disabled may obtain 41 an absentee ballot, that a physically disabled voter whose polling place 42 is not accessible may request that his registration record be moved to 43 an election district which has a polling place which is accessible, the 44 phone number to call for applications to move a registration record or 45 for absentee ballot applications, the phone number to call for the 46 location of registration and polling places, the phone number to call to 47 indicate that the voter is willing to serve on election day as an 48 election inspector, poll clerk, interpreter or in other capacities, the 49 phone number to call to obtain an application for registration by mail, 50 and such other information concerning the elections or registration as 51 the board may include. In lieu of sending such communication to every 52 registered voter, the board of elections may send a single communication 53 to a household containing more than one registered voter, provided that 54 the names of all such voters appear as part of the address on such 55 communication.

S. 1099 4 A. 775 1 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 5-400 of the election 2 law, as amended by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read 3 as follows: 4 (a) Moved his or her residence outside the [~~city or county in which he~~ 5 ~~is registered~~] state. 6 § 5. Paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subdivision 2 of section 5-400 of 7 the election law, paragraphs (b) and (d) as added by section 20 and 8 paragraph (c) as added and paragraph (d) as relettered by section 22 of 9 chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, are amended to read as follows: 10 (b) A notice that the registrant has moved to an address outside the 11 [~~city or county~~] state which is signed by the registrant and sent to the 12 board of elections. 13 (c) A notice signed by the registrant which states that such regis- 14 trant has moved to an address outside the [~~city or county~~] state and 15 that such change of address is for voter registration purposes. 16 (d) A notice from a board of elections or other voter registration 17 officer or agency that such person has registered to vote from an 18 address outside [~~such city or county~~] the state. 19 § 6. The opening paragraph of section 9-209 of the election law, as 20 amended by chapter 163 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as 21 follows: 22 Before completing the canvass of votes cast in any primary, general, 23 special, or other election at which voters are required to sign their 24 registration poll records before voting, the board of elections shall 25 proceed in the manner hereinafter prescribed to cast and canvass any 26 absentee, military, special presidential, special federal or other 27 special ballots and any ballots voted by voters who moved within the 28 [~~county or city~~] state after registering, voters who are in inactive 29 status, voters whose registration was incorrectly transferred to another 30 address even though they did not move, voters whose registration poll 31 records were missing on the day of such election, voters who have not 32 had their identity previously verified and voters whose registration 33 poll records did not show them to be enrolled in the party in which they 34 claimed to be enrolled. Each such ballot shall be retained in the 35 original envelope containing the voter's affidavit and signature, in 36 which it is delivered to the board of elections until such time as it is 37 to be cast and canvassed. 38 § 7. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 39 have become a law.

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