STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7368 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 22, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COONEY -- 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 poll workers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 3 and 7 of section 3-400 of the election law, 2 subdivision 3 as renumbered by chapter 9 of the laws of 1978 and subdi- 3 vision 7 as amended by chapter 293 of the laws of 2017, are amended to 4 read as follows: 5 3. [~~Appointments to the offices of election inspector or poll clerk in~~ 6 ~~each election district, shall be equally divided between the major poli-~~ 7 ~~tical parties.~~] The board of elections shall, upon appointing an 8 election inspector or poll clerk, assign such person as a representative 9 of one of the two major political parties of the state. The board of 10 elections shall assign an election inspector or poll clerk who is a duly 11 enrolled member of either major political party as a representative of 12 the party in which they are enrolled. If the board of elections appoints 13 as an election inspector or poll clerk a person who is a duly enrolled 14 member of any other political party of the state, or who is not enrolled 15 in any party, the board of elections shall permit such person to elect 16 which of the two major parties they shall represent. 17 7. The board of elections may employ election inspectors to work split 18 shifts with adjusted compensation, provided, however, that at least one 19 inspector [~~from~~] representing each of the two major political parties is 20 present at the poll site for the entire time that the polls are open. 21 Each county board of elections shall prescribe the necessary rules and 22 procedures to ensure proper poll site operation. 23 § 2. Subdivisions 2 and 4 of section 3-401 of the election law, as 24 added by chapter 90 of the laws of 1991, are amended to read as follows: 25 2. All election coordinators shall be trained in the manner prescribed 26 by this article for election inspectors and poll clerks. Election coor- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11528-01-3

S. 7368 2 1 dinators shall be appointed by the board of elections. [~~The appointment~~ 2 ~~of election coordinators shall be equally divided between the two major~~ 3 ~~political parties.~~] The board of elections shall, upon appointing an 4 election coordinator, assign such person as a representative of one of 5 the two major political parties of the state. The board of elections 6 shall assign an election coordinator who is a duly enrolled member of 7 either major political party as a representative of the party in which 8 they are enrolled. If the board of elections appoints as an election 9 coordinator a person who is a duly enrolled member of any other poli- 10 tical party of the state, or who is not enrolled in any party, the board 11 of elections shall permit such person to elect which of the two major 12 parties they shall represent. 13 4. Any county board of elections appointing election coordinators and 14 in the city of New York, the board of elections of the city of New York, 15 shall prepare a report detailing assignments and duties to be delegated 16 to election coordinators, including the enrollment status of each 17 appointee and the party to which each appointee is assigned to 18 represent. Said report shall be filed with the state board of elections 19 no later than one month prior to the election at which election coordi- 20 nators are to be assigned. 21 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 3-402 of the election law is amended to 22 read as follows: 23 1. Election inspectors, in performing their duties, shall act as a 24 board and a majority vote thereof shall be required to decide all ques- 25 tions. If, however, any inspector or inspectors shall be temporarily 26 absent for a portion of the meeting, the inspectors present shall have 27 and may exercise any power or perform any duty conferred or imposed upon 28 a board of inspectors, provided that they are not all [~~members~~] 29 appointed as representatives of the same political party. 30 § 4. Subdivisions 2, 5 and 7 of section 3-404 of the election law, 31 subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 263 of the laws of 1991 and subdivi- 32 sion 7 as amended by chapter 234 of the laws of 1976, are amended to 33 read as follows: 34 2. Each political party [~~entitled to representation on any board of~~ 35 ~~elections~~] of the state may, not later than the first day of May in each 36 year, file with the appropriate board of elections, an original list of 37 persons recommended to serve. Supplemental lists may be filed at the 38 same time and at any time before the designation is made and certified 39 or when a vacancy exists. All designations shall be made first from 40 those named in the original list filed if those designated are found 41 qualified. 42 5. If a political party shall fail to submit a list or the list shall 43 be exhausted, the board of elections shall request from the appropriate 44 political party an original or supplemental list. If after ten days no 45 list is filed by that party, the board of elections may appoint quali- 46 fied persons[~~, enrolled members of the political party in default,~~] to 47 act as election inspectors, poll clerks or election coordinators. The 48 board of elections shall assign such persons to represent the interests 49 of the major political parties in the manner prescribed in section 3-400 50 or 3-401 of this title. 51 7. Election officers shall be appointed from the lists submitted, by 52 those members of the board who represent the political party which 53 submitted such lists. If such list is not furnished, the members of the 54 board who represent the political party in default, shall designate the 55 persons to be appointed as election officers. A member of a board of 56 election who represents a political party in default may designate a

S. 7368 3 1 member of another political party or an unenrolled person to represent 2 the defaulting party's interests, provided that such appointee has 3 elected to represent such party pursuant to section 3-400 or 3-401 of 4 this title. 5 § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 3-406 of the election law is amended to 6 read as follows: 7 1. Each board of elections shall establish a list of persons duly 8 qualified to serve as election inspectors, which list shall be known as 9 the "Additional Inspector List", in such number of persons as the board 10 shall determine. Such a list shall be equally divided between designated 11 representatives of the major political parties. Appointments under this 12 section shall be made in the manner provided for the appointment of 13 regular election inspectors and for a like term. 14 § 6. Subdivisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 of section 3-418 of the election law, 15 subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, are amended 16 to read as follows: 17 1. If, at the time of a meeting of the inspectors, there shall be a 18 vacancy, or if any inspector shall be absent, the inspector present who 19 is [~~the designee~~] a designated representative of the same party as the 20 absent inspector shall appoint a qualified voter of the same city or 21 town to act in place of the absent inspector. If, however, any inspec- 22 tors shall be temporarily absent for a portion of the meeting, the 23 inspectors present, provided that they are not all [~~members~~] designated 24 representatives of the same political party, shall have and may exercise 25 any power or perform any duty conferred or imposed upon a board of 26 inspectors. 27 2. If at the time of any such meeting two inspectors who are [~~members~~] 28 designated representatives of the same party shall be absent, or their 29 places shall be vacant, the poll clerk or poll clerks present, if any, 30 [of] designated to represent the same party shall act as inspectors and 31 shall appoint qualified voters of the same city or town who are members 32 of the same party [as] to which the absent inspectors were appointed to 33 represent, to act in place of such clerks. 34 3. If at the time of any such meeting two inspectors and the poll 35 clerk or clerks, if any, who are [~~members~~] representatives of the same 36 party shall be absent, or their places shall be vacant, the inspector or 37 inspectors present, or in their absence the poll clerk or clerks pres- 38 ent, if any, shall appoint qualified voters of the same city or town, 39 who are members of the same party [as] to which such absent inspectors 40 were appointed to represent, to act as such inspectors and clerks, until 41 the inspectors or clerks duly appointed by the original appointing 42 authority, shall appear. 43 4. If at the time of any such meeting, there shall be a vacancy in the 44 office of poll clerk, or if a poll clerk shall be absent, the inspectors 45 who are [~~designees~~] representatives of the same party, or in their 46 absence, any poll clerk [of] appointed to represent the same party who 47 is present, shall appoint a qualified voter of the same city or town who 48 is a member of the same party, to act in place of the absent poll clerk. 49 § 7. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 50 have become a law.

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