What's happening
This bill expands absentee voting eligibility to include personal matters and limits agents to collecting no more than fifteen ballots without special approval.
Why it matters
Broader absentee voting criteria. By allowing voters to request an absentee ballot for “personal matters,” “duties,” “occupation,” “business,” or “studies,” the bill removes the need to provide a specific excuse such as illness or travel, making absentee voting much more accessible to all eligible voters.
Potential for increased voter participation. Easier absentee ballot access could encourage higher turnout, especially among those with demanding schedules, caretaking responsibilities, or other personal obligations that previously did not qualify.
Ballot collection safeguards. The new 15-ballot cap for agents collecting absentee ballots (unless specially approved by bipartisan inspectors) aims to reduce the risk of ballot harvesting and maintain election integrity, while still allowing assistance for those who need help submitting their ballots.
Administrative impact. Election boards and inspectors will need to implement new procedures to approve exceptions to the ballot collection cap and may experience increased absentee ballot requests, requiring adjustments in processing and oversight.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Expand Absentee Voting Reasons
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 38
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to elections
- Referred to elections
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
145
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. CARLUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to absentee voting qualifications
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 8-400 of the election law, as amended by chapter 63 of the laws of 2010, paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 375 of the laws of 2015, is amended and a new subdivision 11 is added to read as follows:
1. A qualified voter may vote as an absentee voter under this chapter if, on the occurrence of any village election conducted by the board of elections, primary election, special election, general election or New York city community school board district or city of Buffalo school district election, he or she expects to be[:
(a) absent from the county of his or her residence, or, if a resident of the city of New York absent from said city; or
(b) unable to appear personally at the polling place of the election district in which he or she is a qualified voter because of illness or physical disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or because he or she will be or is a patient in a hospital; or
(c) a resident or patient of a veterans health administration hospital; or
(d) absent from his or her voting residence because he or she is detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial, or confined in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than a felony, provided that he or she is qualified to vote in the election district of his or her residence] unable to vote in person due to duties, occupation, business, personal matters or studies.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05288-01-9
S. 145 2
11. No single agent shall collect more than fifteen absentee ballots, except upon application and approval of two inspectors representing different political parties.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law, in relation to absentee voting quali- fications
Purpose
Allows absentee voting for persons unable to vote due to duties, occupa- tion, business, personal matters or studies.
Summary of provisions
Section 1. Amends subdivision 1 of section 8-400 of the election law and adds a new subdivision 11 to extend absentee voting rights to any indi- vidual who for any reason is unable to vote in person; includes the category of "matters" in the list of acceptable reasons for absentee voting; eliminates the requirement that an individual applying for an absentee ballot be required to file a statement regarding the nature and reasons of their absence from the county of his or her residence; provides that no single agent may collect more than fifteen absentee ballots, except upon application and approval of both commissioners.
Section 2. Effective date.
Justification
By extending absentee voting rights to all individuals who are unable to vote in person on election day, we are enabling more eligible voters to vote in New York State and have that vote counted. This bill helps to ensure that as many eligible voters as possible exercise their right to vote on election day.
There are many instances where an individual voter may not be able to vote, for any number of personal reasons, but may not fall within one of the categories which exists in current law. This amendment would elimi- nate this problem. The existing application process is also amended, as it would no longer require an individual voter to provide a specific reason as to why they will be unable to vote in person on election day.
This bill helps codify the main focus of HAVA to ensure that as many people as possible are able to exercise their right to vote and do so in an appropriate manner. By eliminating the requirement that an individual provide an acceptable reason for their absence, the bill also eliminates a pitfall as to why an otherwise eligible voter may be deemed ineligi- ble.
Additionally, this bill would limit the number of absentee ballots one agent may collect to fifteen, unless otherwise approved by both commis- sioners. This change eliminates the unseemly practice whereby one indi- vidual is able to collect an unlimited number of absentee ballots and turn them in. The potential for fraud in instances like that is too great to risk for such an important matter as the right to have your vote count.
Legislative history
2017-18: S1659 - ELECTIONS 2015-16: S873A/A5601A - Elections/Election Law 2013-14: S6534/A2105 - Elections/Election Law
Fiscal implications
None.
Local fiscal implications
Negligible.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.