NY State Senate Bill 2009-S5595

Senate Bill S5595

Signed By Governor

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Allows a military voter to apply for a military ballot by facsimile transmission or electronic mail; extends time for receipt of special federal and military ballots

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A8376 - Signed by Governor

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jul 11, 2009	signed chap.165
Jul 10, 2009	delivered to governor
Jul 09, 2009	returned to assembly repassed senate vote reconsidered - restored to third reading
Jun 30, 2009	passed senate 3rd reading cal.680 substituted for s5595
Jun 30, 2009	substituted by a8376 ordered to third reading cal.680 committee discharged and committed to rules
May 20, 2009	referred to elections

Votes

- Jul 9, 2009 - Floor Vote
  A8376
  
  62
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Jul 9, 2009
      
      aye (62)
      
      Adams
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Alesi
      
      Aubertine
      
      Bonacic
      
      Breslin
      
      DeFrancisco
      
      Diaz
      
      Dilan
      
      Duane
      
      Espada
      
      Farley
      
      Flanagan
      
      Foley
      
      Fuschillo
      
      Golden
      
      Griffo
      
      Hannon
      
      Hassell-Thompson
      
      Huntley
      
      Johnson
      
      Johnson
      
      Klein
      
      Krueger
      
      Kruger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Larkin
      
      Leibell
      
      Libous
      
      Little
      
      Marcellino
      
      Maziarz
      
      McDonald
      
      Monserrate
      
      Montgomery
      
      Morahan
      
      Nozzolio
      
      Onorato
      
      Oppenheimer
      
      Padavan
      
      Parker
      
      Perkins
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Robach
      
      Saland
      
      Sampson
      
      Savino
      
      Schneiderman
      
      Serrano
      
      Seward
      
      Skelos
      
      Smith
      
      Squadron
      
      Stachowski
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Thompson
      
      Valesky
      
      Volker
      
      Winner
      
      Young
  Jun 30, 2009 - Rules Committee Vote
  S5595
  
  13
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  11
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Rules Committee Vote: Jun 30, 2009
      
      aye (13)
      
      Dilan
      
      Duane
      
      Hassell-Thompson
      
      Klein
      
      Krueger
      
      Monserrate
      
      Montgomery
      
      Parker
      
      Serrano
      
      Smith
      
      Stachowski
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Valesky
      
      absent (11)
      
      Espada
      
      Farley
      
      Hannon
      
      Johnson
      
      LaValle
      
      Larkin
      
      Padavan
      
      Saland
      
      Seward
      
      Skelos
      
      Volker

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2009-S5595 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8376
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§8-400, 9-209, 10-106, 10-114, 11-202 & 11-212, El L; amd §4, Chap 237 of 2005

2009-S5595 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows a military voter to apply for a military ballot by facsimile transmission or electronic mail; extends time for receipt of special federal and military ballots; makes permanent certain provisions relating to military and special federal ballots.

2009-S5595 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S5595

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the election law, in relation to military voting, and
to amend chapter 237 of the laws of 2005 amending the election law
relating to military voting, in relation to making such provisions
permanent


 PURPOSE :
To make permanent a current law affecting military voters that would
otherwise expire December 31, 2009, to make it easier for both
military and other overseas voters to apply for and obtain a paper
ballot for primary, general and special elections and to expand the
time frame for returning such ballots.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1 of the bill amends election law § 8-400(2)(d) to provide
that military voters and other overseas voters may request a paper
ballot as allowed in subsequent sections of the bill, i.e. by
facsimile transmission or electronic mail.

Section 2 of the bill amends election law § 9-209(a) to allow boards
of elections to fix a time for casting and canvassing paper ballots no
more than fourteen days after a general or special election and no
more than eight days after a primary election.

Section 3 of the bill adds a new subdivision 3 to election law §
10-106 to provide that a military voter may apply for a military
ballot by facsimile transmission pursuant to the Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens absentee Voting Act or by electronic mail.

Section 4 of the bill amends election law § 10-114(1) to provide that
a military ballot will be counted if a) it is postmarked or dated and
witnessed no later than the day before the election and b) it is
received by the board of elections no later than seven days following
a primary election or thirteen days following a general or special
election.

Section 5 of the bill adds a new paragraph d to election law §
11-202(1) to provide that an overseas voter may apply for a special
federal ballot by facsimile transmission pursuant to the Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens absentee Voting Act or by electronic mail.

Section 6 of the bill amends election law § 11-212 to provide that a
special federal ballot cast by an overseas voter will be counted if a)
it is postmarked or endorsed by a United States government agency no
later than the day before the election and b) it is received by the
board of elections no later than seven days following a primary
election or thirteen days following a general or special election.

Section 7 of the bill amends section 4 of chapter 237 of the laws of
2005 to repeal the sunset provision and make that chapter's provisions
permanent.

Section 8 of the bill is the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :
The federal Unifonned and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act was
enacted in 1986 to promote the opportunity for military and other
overseas voters to timely apply for and obtain paper ballots that will
be cast and counted. In 2001, the United States General Accounting
Office estimated that the act covered 6.1 million citizens, including
2.7 million active military personnel and their relatives. Among
military personnel who reported not voting in 2004, 30 percent said

they were not able to vote because their ballots never arrived or
arrived too late.

According to the United States Election Assistance Commission, in
2006, only 26.5 percent of the roughly 1 million absentee ballots
requested by military and overseas Americans were cast and counted.
In early 2009, the Unites State Senate Rules and Administration
Committee, Chaired by Senator Charles Schumer of New York, surveyed
election offices in seven states having high numbers of military
personnel (California, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas,
Washington and West Virginia) with the assistance of the Congressional
Research Service. The survey found that of the 441,000 absentee
ballots requested by eligible voters living abroad in 2008, one
quarter had not been counted because they were lost, returned as
"undeliverable" or rejected for various reasons.

The Pew Center on the States recently issued a report titled No Time
to Vote: Challenges Facing America's Overseas Military Voters. The
report concluded that 16 states, or approximately onethird do not
provide enough time for military and overseas voters to complete the
absentee ballot process, The report made suggested changes to the
election law for each state that would promote the timely receipt of
paper ballots by military and overseas voters. New York State has
tried to address this issue since 2005. In order to promote voting by
military personnel, New York enacted a law that allows military voters
to sign their ballot envelopes before a witness rather than obtain a
postmark and extended the time frame for receipt of such ballots by
the board of elections to 13 days after a general election. This law
contained a sunset provision and has been reenacted each year since
2005. It is set to expire on December 31, 2009. This bill is an
attempt to further promote voting by military and other overseas
voters. Two of the Pew Center's suggestions for New York are contained
in chapter 237 of the laws of2005 law and would be made pennanent by
this bill. In addition, this bill adopts additional Pew Center
suggestions, extends all of the changes to overseas voters in addition
to military voters and allows additional time for receipt of the
completed ballot after special elections for the first time.

Extending the time to receive military and other overseas ballots will
better ensure that no American living overseas will be disenfranchised
in New York because of the distance and time it takes to send mail
from the far comers of the world.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
This makes pennanent chapter 237 of the laws of 2005 and adds new
provisions regarding military and other overseas voters.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None to the state. The federal government provides a toll free
facsimile number for use by military and overseas federal voters.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately.

2009-S5595 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5595

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              May 20, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  SMITH,  ADAMS, ADDABBO, AUBERTINE, BRESLIN, DIAZ,
  DILAN, DUANE, ESPADA, FOLEY,  HASSELL-THOMPSON,  HUNTLEY,  C. JOHNSON,
  KLEIN,  KRUEGER, KRUGER, MONSERRATE, MONTGOMERY, ONORATO, OPPENHEIMER,
  PARKER, PERKINS, SAMPSON,  SAVINO,  SCHNEIDERMAN,  SERRANO,  SQUADRON,
  STACHOWSKI,   STAVISKY,  STEWART-COUSINS,  THOMPSON,  VALESKY  --  (at
  request of the Governor) -- 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 military voting, and to
  amend chapter 237 of the laws of 2005 amending the election law relat-
  ing  to  military voting, in relation to making such provisions perma-
  nent

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Paragraph  (d)  of  subdivision 2 of section 8-400 of the
election law, as added by chapter 216 of the laws of 1988, is amended to
read as follows:
  (d) The board of elections shall mail  an  absentee  ballot  to  every
qualified  voter otherwise eligible for such a ballot, who requests such
an absentee ballot from such board of elections in a  letter,  which  is
signed  by  the voter and received by the board of elections not earlier
than the thirtieth day  nor  later  than  the  seventh  day  before  the
election  for  which  the ballot is first requested and which states the
address where the voter is registered  and  the  address  to  which  the
ballot  is to be mailed; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, A MILITARY VOTER MAY REQUEST
A MILITARY BALLOT IN A  LETTER  AS  PROVIDED  IN  SUBDIVISION  THREE  OF
SECTION  10-106 OF THIS CHAPTER; AND PROVIDED FURTHER, A SPECIAL FEDERAL
VOTER MAY REQUEST A SPECIAL FEDERAL BALLOT IN A LETTER  AS  PROVIDED  IN
PARAGRAPH  D  OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION 11-202 OF THIS CHAPTER.  The
board of elections shall enclose with such ballot a form of  application
for absentee ballot.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
S                                                          LBD11671-03-9

S. 5595                             2

  S  2.  Paragraph  a  of subdivision 1 of section 9-209 of the election
law, as amended by chapter 237 of the laws of 2005, is amended  to  read
as follows:
  a.  The  board  of  elections  shall  designate  itself or such of its
employees as it shall deem appropriate as a set of poll clerks  to  cast
and canvass such ballots, and fix a time and place for their meeting for
such  purpose,  provided  that such meeting shall be no more than [thir-
teen] FOURTEEN days after a general OR SPECIAL election and no more than
eight days after a [special or] primary election at which  such  ballots
are voted. The board may designate additional sets of poll clerks and if
it designates more than one such set shall apportion among all such sets
the  election  districts  from  which  such  ballots have been received,
provided that all such ballots from a single election district shall  be
assigned  to  a  single  set  of clerks, and that each such set shall be
divided equally between  representatives  of  the  two  major  political
parties.  Each  such  set  of  clerks shall be deemed a central board of
inspectors for purposes of this section.
  S 3. Section 10-106 of the election law is amended  by  adding  a  new
subdivision 3 to read as follows:
  3.  A  MILITARY  VOTER  MAY  APPLY  FOR A MILITARY BALLOT BY FACSIMILE
TRANSMISSION PURSUANT TO THE UNIFORMED AND  OVERSEAS  CITIZENS  ABSENTEE
VOTING ACT OR ELECTRONIC MAIL.
  S  4.  Subdivision 1 of section 10-114 of the election law, as amended
by chapter 237 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
  1. The board of elections shall cause all military ballots received by
it before the close of  the  polls  on  election  day  and  all  ballots
contained  in envelopes showing a cancellation mark of the United States
postal service or a foreign country's postal service, or showing a dated
endorsement of receipt by another agency of the United States government
or are signed and dated by the voter and one  witness  thereto,  with  a
date  which  is ascertained to be not later than the day before election
and received by such board  of  elections  not  later  than  seven  days
following  the day of a primary [or special] election and not later than
thirteen days following the day of a general OR SPECIAL election  to  be
cast and counted.
  S 5. Subdivision 1 of section 11-202 of the election law is amended by
adding a new paragraph d to read as follows:
  D.  A  SPECIAL FEDERAL VOTER MAY APPLY FOR A SPECIAL FEDERAL BALLOT BY
FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION PURSUANT TO THE UNIFORMED AND  OVERSEAS  CITIZENS
ABSENTEE VOTING ACT OR ELECTRONIC MAIL.
  S  6. Section 11-212 of the election law, as amended by chapter 155 of
the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
  S 11-212. Special federal ballots; deadline for receipt, and  delivery
to  polling place.  All special federal ballots received by the board of
elections before the close of the polls on election day may be delivered
to the inspectors of the election districts  in  which  the  voters  are
registered,  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  this  chapter for absentee
ballots, or retained by the board of elections and  cast  and  canvassed
pursuant  to section 9-209 of this chapter as the board of elections, in
its discretion, shall determine by resolution adopted  at  least  thirty
days  before  election day. All ballots contained in envelopes showing a
cancellation mark of the United States postal service or a foreign coun-
try's postal service, or showing  a  dated  endorsement  of  receipt  by
another  agency  of  the  United States government, with a date which is
ascertained to be not later than the day before election, shall be  cast
and  counted  if received by the board of elections not later than seven

S. 5595                             3

days following the day of A PRIMARY election OR THIRTEEN DAYS  FOLLOWING
THE DAY OF A GENERAL OR SPECIAL ELECTION except that the special federal
ballot  of  a  voter  who  requested  such ballot by letter, rather than
application,  shall  not  be  counted  unless  a valid application form,
signed by such voter, is received by the board of  elections  with  such
ballot. All ballots received by the board of elections [between election
day  and  the  seventh  day after election day] and all federal write-in
ballots received from special federal voters NOT LATER THAN  SEVEN  DAYS
FOLLOWING  THE  DAY OF A PRIMARY ELECTION OR THIRTEEN DAYS FOLLOWING THE
DAY OF A GENERAL OR SPECIAL ELECTION, shall be retained at the board and
shall be cast and canvassed in the same manner as other ballots retained
by such board.
  S 7. Section 4 of chapter  237  of  the  laws  of  2005  amending  the
election  law  relating to military voting, as amended by chapter 188 of
the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately [and shall expire December
31, 2009; when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed
repealed].
  S 8. This act shall take effect immediately.

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