STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4723 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 5, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Election Law AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to recounts of election votes The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 9-208 of the election law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 1-a to read as follows: 3 1-a. Subsequent to the recount provided for by subdivision one of this 4 section, and prior to the certification of the final vote count of any 5 general, special or primary election, an additional recount of all votes 6 cast in the election shall be conducted by the board of elections or 7 bipartisan committee under any of the following circumstances: 8 (a) The difference in ballots cast for the candidates for any position 9 is ten or less votes or one-half of one percent of the ballots cast for 10 such position, whichever shall be greater. The board of elections or 11 bipartisan committee shall count all ballots cast for the race in ques- 12 tion by hand, including those ballots scanned by a ballot scanner. The 13 cost of the recount shall be paid by the jurisdiction conducting the 14 recount. 15 (b) A losing candidate requests a recount of the votes cast for the 16 position he or she ran for. 17 (i) The requesting candidate may provide the county board of elections 18 or bipartisan committee with a list of up to three precincts that are to 19 be recounted first and may waive the balance of the recount after these 20 precincts have been counted. 21 (ii) The recount shall be completed within five days of the filing of 22 request for recount. If the recount is conducted in two stages, as 23 provided in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, the recount shall be 24 completed within five days of the second stage. The race under recount 25 shall not be certified until the hand count is completed. The board of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09009-01-1

A. 4723 2 1 elections or bipartisan committee shall count all ballots cast for the 2 race in question by hand, including those ballots scanned by a ballot 3 scanner. 4 (iii) Such recount shall be conducted at the requesting candidate's 5 expense and the requesting candidate shall file with the jurisdiction 6 conducting the recount a bond, cash, or surety in an amount set by the 7 jurisdiction conducting the recount for the payment of the recount 8 expenses; provided, however, that the cost of the recount shall be paid 9 by the jurisdiction conducting the recount if: 10 (1) upon the recount any candidate on the ballot other than the 11 winning candidate is found to be the winner of the race; or 12 (2) the ballot images for the race under recount differ from the 13 machine count on one or more ballot boxes. Ballot images shall be posted 14 on the county board of elections website no later than five days after 15 the election. 16 (iv) The cost per ballot for the hand count of ballots shall be estab- 17 lished and posted by each county board of elections before an election, 18 with a maximum fee of twenty-five cents per ballot. If it is not so 19 posted, the fee charged the candidate shall be twenty-five cents per 20 ballot. 21 (c) Upon the original recount of the results of a referendum or propo- 22 sition, and prior to the certification of the final vote count, any 23 voter eligible to vote on the ballot question, in a county, school 24 district or municipal election may initiate a recount of the paper 25 ballots upon either the following conditions: 26 (i) The difference between the approval votes and the disapproval 27 votes on a question is less than one-half of one percent of the total 28 number of votes cast. Such recount shall be conducted at the expense of 29 the jurisdiction conducting the recount. The board of elections or 30 bipartisan committee shall count all ballots cast for the race in ques- 31 tion by hand, including those ballots scanned by a ballot scanner. 32 (ii) The difference between the approval votes and the disapproval 33 votes on a question is more than one-half of one percent of the total 34 number of votes cast. The requesting voter shall file for a recount by 35 submitting a petition including signatures from twenty-five voters 36 eligible to have voted on the referendum or proposition. Such recount 37 shall be conducted at the expense of the requesting voter and the 38 requesting voter shall file with the jurisdiction conducting the recount 39 a bond, cash, or surety in an amount set by the jurisdiction conducting 40 the recount for the payment of the recount expenses; provided, however, 41 that if upon the recount, the voting results on the referendum or propo- 42 sition are reversed the cost of the recount shall be paid by the juris- 43 diction conducting the recount. 44 (d) A request for a recount pursuant to the terms of this subdivision 45 shall be made within five days of the completion of the original 46 recount. 47 (e) Recount costs incurred by a jurisdiction shall be reimbursed by 48 the state. 49 (f) The candidate, the public and the media shall receive advance 50 notice of the recount, and the recount shall be made public. 51 (g) No person who was a candidate at such election shall participate 52 in or supervise the recount but may be present to observe as provided by 53 existing law. 54 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to 55 elections conducted on or after such effective date. Effective imme- 56 diately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation

A. 4723 3 1 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 2 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

Relates to recounts of election votes

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