Register Voters Automatically

Section 1. Title 2 of article 5 of the election law is amended by adding a new section 5-200 to read as follows:

§ 5-200. Automatic voter registration. 1. Notwithstanding any other manner of registration required by this article, each person in the state qualified to vote pursuant to section 5-102 of this article, shall be automatically registered to vote as provided in this section, provided that the person does not elect to decline registration to vote at the point of service.

2. The state board of elections or county board of elections shall register to vote or update the registration record of any person in the state qualified to vote pursuant to section 5-102 of this article who does not elect to decline registration to vote or update the registration record at the point of service and does any of the following:

(a) completes an application for a new or renewed driver's license, non-driver identification card, pre-licensing course certificate, learner's permit or certification of supervised driving with the department of motor vehicles, or notifies such department in writing of a change of his or her name or address;

(b) completes an application for services, renewal or recertification for services, or change of address relating to such services from agencies designated in section 5-211 of this title;

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

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD00581-02-9

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(c) completes an application for services, renewal or recertification for services, or change of address relating to such services from any municipal housing authority as set forth in article thirteen of the public housing law;

(d) registers for classes at institutions of the state university of New York and the city university of New York;

(e) completes a maximum sentence of imprisonment or is discharged from parole;

(f) completes an application for unemployment insurance;

(g) becomes a member or employee of the New York division of military and naval affairs; or

(h) completes an application with any other state or federal agency designated as a source agency pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision three of this section.

3. (a) The term "source agency" includes the department of motor vehicles, any government agency designated pursuant to section 5-211 of this title, the state university of New York and the city university of New York, all public housing authorities listed in article thirteen of the public housing law, the department of corrections and community supervision, the department of labor, the New York division of military and naval affairs and any agency designated by the state board of elections pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision.

(b) The state board of elections may designate additional state agencies to serve as sources for voter registration. In designating an agency under this paragraph, the state board of elections shall consider:

(i) the likelihood that source records reflect a large number of eligible citizens;

(ii) the extent to which source records reflect eligible citizens who would not otherwise be registered under the act to modernize voter registration;

(iii) the accuracy of personal identification data in source records; and

(iv) any additional factors designated by the chief election official as reasonably related to accomplishing the purposes of the act to modernize voter registration.

4. The state board of elections and the source agencies shall enter into agreements to ensure that for each person described in subdivision two of this section, each source agency electronically transmits to the state or local boards of elections the following information in a format that can be read by the computerized statewide voter registration list:

(a) given name or names and surname or surnames;

(b) mailing address and residential address;

(c) date of birth;

(d) citizenship;

(e) driver's license or non-driver identification card number, last four digits of the person's social security number, or a space for the person to indicate that he or she does not have any such number;

(f) political party enrollment, if any;

(g) an indication that the person intends to apply for an absentee ballot, if any; and

(h) an image of the person's signature.

In the event that any transmission of data pursuant to this section fails to include an image of an individual's signature, the absence of a signature shall not preclude the registration of an eligible citizen. The board of elections shall develop procedures to enable an eligible citizen, whose information is transmitted pursuant to this section and

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whose information lacks an electronic signature, to provide a signature at the polling place or with an application for an absentee ballot before voting. The board may require an elector who has not provided a signature before arriving at the polling place or submitting an absentee ballot to present a current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter.

5. If an agency does not routinely request information concerning the citizenship status of individuals, it shall maintain records sufficient to transmit to the board of elections indications of United States citizenship for each person described in subdivision two of this section, but shall not retain, use, or share any such information relating to an individual's citizenship for any other purpose.

6. Each source agency shall include for each person described in subdivision two of this section a statement that he or she shall be registered to vote, if he or she is not already so registered, provided, however, that each source agency shall provide each person described in subdivision two of this section the opportunity to elect to decline registration to vote at the point of service, and upon such election, he or she shall not be registered to vote pursuant to the procedures in this section at that time.

7. The state board of elections shall prepare and distribute to participating agencies written instructions as to the implementation of the program and shall be responsible for establishing training programs for employees of source agencies listed in this section. Training shall include requirements that employees of any source agency communicate to each individual identified in subdivision two of this section that the source agency maintains strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment and all persons seeking voter registration forms and information shall be advised that government services are not conditioned on being registered to vote, or eligibility to register to vote. No statement shall be made nor any action taken to discourage the applicant from registering to vote.

8. The agreements between the state board of elections and the source agencies shall include the format in which information will be transmitted, whether and how each entity will collect, in addition to the mandatory information listed in subdivision four of this section, additional information on a voluntary basis from persons for the purpose of facilitating voter registration, the frequency of data transmissions, the procedures, and other measures that will be used to ensure the security and privacy of the information transmitted, and any other matter necessary or helpful to implement the requirements of this section.

9. Each source agency shall cooperate with the state board of elections and county board of elections to facilitate the voter registration of each person described in subdivision two of this section, and to electronically transmit the information needed to register each such person to vote or to update each such person's voter registration record.

10. Each source agency shall enter into an agreement with the state board of elections finalizing the format and content of electronic transmissions required by this section no later than September first, two thousand nineteen; provided, that each source agency shall be able to comply fully with all requirements of this section, including the collection and transmission of all data required to register individuals to vote, by January first, two thousand twenty-two.

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§ 2. Subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the election law is amended by adding a new paragraph (n) to read as follows:

(n) Agreements adopted pursuant to section 5-200 of this title between source agencies and the state or county boards of elections are not required to include the collection or transmission of the information requested in paragraph (j) or subparagraph (i), (viii), (x) or (xii) of paragraph (k) of this subdivision, and no board of election shall refuse to register to vote or update the registration record of any person in the state whose information is transmitted pursuant to section 5-200 of this title for the reason that such information does not include the information requested by paragraph (j) or subparagraph (i), (viii), (x) or (xii) of paragraph (k) of this subdivision.

§ 3. The opening paragraph and subdivisions 11 and 12 of section 5-211 of the election law, the opening paragraph as amended by chapter 265 of the laws of 2013, subdivision 11 as amended by chapter 200 of the laws of 1996 and subdivision 12 as added by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, are amended to read as follows:

Each agency designated as a participating agency under the provisions of this section shall implement and administer a program of distribution of voter registration forms pursuant to the provisions of this section. The following offices which provide public assistance and/or provide state funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities are hereby designated as voter registration agencies: designated as the state agencies which provide public assistance are the office of children and family services, the office of temporary and disability assistance and the department of health. Also designated as public assistance agencies are all agencies of local government that provide such assistance. Designated as state agencies that provide programs primarily engaged in providing services to people with disabilities are the department of labor, office for the aging, division of veterans' affairs, office of mental health, office of vocational and educational services for individuals with disabilities, commission on quality of care for the mentally disabled, office [of mental retardation and] for people with developmental disabilities, commission for the blind, office of alcoholism and substance abuse services, the office of the advocate for the disabled and all offices which administer programs established or funded by such agencies. Additional [state] agencies designated as voter registration offices are the department of state [and], the division of workers' compensation, the state university of New York, the city university of New York, all public housing authorities listed in article thirteen of the public housing law, the department of corrections and community supervision and the New York division of military and naval affairs. Such agencies shall be required to offer voter registration forms to and provide for automatic voter registration, pursuant to section 5-200 of this title, for persons upon initial application for services, renewal or recertification for services and change of address relating to such services. Such agencies shall also be responsible for providing assistance to applicants in completing voter registration forms, receiving and transmitting the completed application form from all applicants who wish to have such form transmitted to the appropriate board of elections. The state board of elections shall, together with representatives of the department of defense, develop and implement procedures for including recruitment offices of the armed forces of the United States as voter registration offices when such offices are so designated by federal law. The state board shall also make request of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service

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to include applications for registration by mail with any materials which are given to new citizens. [All institutions of the state university of New York and the city university of New York, shall, at the beginning of the school year, and again in January of a year in which the president of the United States is to be elected, provide an application for registration to each student in each such institution.] The state board of elections may, by regulation, grant a waiver from any or all of the requirements of this section to any office or program of an agency, if it determines that it is not feasible for such office or program to administer such requirement.