What's happening
This bill allows school district elections to be held in any building owned or leased by the district and requires these buildings to meet specific accessibility standards.
Why it matters
Expanding permitted polling locations to any building owned or leased by a school district gives districts more flexibility. in choosing sites for elections, which could make voting more convenient for residents and better suited to local needs.
Requiring these locations to comply with specific accessibility standards (from Election Law section 4-104). ensures that all voters, including those with disabilities, can access polling places—potentially increasing participation and avoiding discrimination or logistical barriers.
Districts with multiple buildings now have the option to select the most suitable venue. for elections, which could help alleviate overcrowding, parking issues, or scheduling conflicts that sometimes arise when only schoolhouses are used.
The change might require districts to assess and upgrade facilities. to meet accessibility requirements, potentially leading to improved infrastructure not just for elections but for other community uses as well.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Expand School Election Locations
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 39
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to education
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to education
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 56–2
- Ordered to third reading cal.994
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Print number 1658a
- Amend and recommit to education
- Referred to education
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.
Expand School Election Locations
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Amy Paulin
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1658--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sens. SKOUFIS, BOYLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the location of the annual school district elections
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 2002 of the education law, as amended by chapter 801 of the laws of 1953, subdivision 1 as amended by section 5 of part C of chapter 58 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:
§ 2002. Time and place of annual meeting. 1. The annual meeting and election of each school district shall be held on the third Tuesday of May in each year, provided, however that such annual meeting and election shall be held on the second Tuesday in May if the commissioner at the request of a local school board certifies no later than March first that such election would conflict with religious observances. Unless the hour and place thereof shall have been fixed by a vote of a previous district meeting, the same shall be held in the schoolhouse, or any building owned or leased by the district, at seven-thirty [o'clock in the evening] p.m. in the case of a school district that is not divided into election districts and conducts its election or vote by recording the ayes or noes of the qualified voters attending, or, in the case of all other districts, during at least six consecutive hours after six a.m., two of which hours shall be after six p.m. as determined by resolution of the trustees or board of education, provided, however, that the trustees or board of education of any school district that conducted its annual meeting at seven-thirty p.m. in nineteen hundred ninety-seven may conduct its annual election and budget vote at such time in nineteen hundred ninety-eight. If a district possesses more than one schoolhouse or building, or leases more than one building, it shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04316-05-9
S. 1658--A 2
be held in the one usually employed for that purpose, unless the trustees or board of education designate another, provided that if the school district is divided into election districts such annual meeting and election shall be held at such place in each election district as the board of education may designate. If the district possesses no schoolhouse or building, or does not lease a building, or if the schoolhouse or building shall not be accessible or adequate, then the annual meeting and election shall be held at such place as the trustees or board of education, or the clerk, shall designate in the notice.
2. The use of any building owned or leased by a school district, as described in subdivision one of this section, shall comply with the accessibility provisions set out in subdivisions one-a and one-b of section 4-104 of the election law.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the location of the annual school district elections
Purpose or general idea of bill
Relates to the location of the annual school district elections.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends Section 2002 of the education law to include any building owned or leased by the school district to be used for their annual meeting, election, board vote. This section also provides that the use of any building owned or leased by a district shall comply with the ADA accessibility provisions set out in election law.
Section 2: Effective Date.
Justification
This legislation seeks to create more flexibility for school boards to determine the location of their annual school board elections. Current- ly, annual school district elections and budget votes can only be held in a schoolhouse. This bill expands the allowable locations to any building owned or leased by the district.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth 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.