BILL NUMBER:  S2940

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the election law, in relation to
change of enrollment

 PURPOSE :

Under current law, when a registered voter seeks to change his/her
party enrollment to a different party, enroll in a party (when not
previously enrolled in any party), or to end his/her enrollment in a
party, the effective change of that enrollment is deferred until the
first Tuesday following the general election. As a result, voters
wishing to make such changes of enrollment may have to wait as long as
thirteen months to see their changes of enrollment take effect. Under
this bill, changes of enrollment would take effect twenty-five (25)
days after such changes were applied for. This new timeframe would
coincide with the deadlines for voter registration thus simplifying
the process for both voters and county boards of elections.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends Subdivision 3 of Section 5-304 of the election law to
make changes of enrollment effective twenty-five (25) days after they
are applied for. Section 2 sets the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :
              

Of paramount importance in a democratic society is not just to be able
to vote for the candidate of one's choice but also to be able to
select the candidates who appear on the ballot. In fact, in many
instances this selection is more significant than the general election
itself. In New York, voters get to partake in this selection process
by means of primary elections. Unfortunately, many voters discover
that they are unable to vote in the party primary of their choice
because they are not enrolled in the party whose primary they wish to
vote in.

Voters who seek changes of enrollment discover that such changes would
not be effective until after the November elections, not in time to be
able to vote in the Presidential Primaries themselves. For example,
voters who wished to change their party enrollment to vote in the
April 19, 2016 Presidential Primary, would have had to apply for a
change of enrollment 193 days before the Presidential Primary,
according to a 2016 report released by the New York State Office of
the Attorney General. The report stated that one of the major
"barriers to voter access" in NYS are the "extremely restrictive
deadlines for party enrollment," and referenced this bill as a
solution.

This bill would ensure that voters are fully able to partake in all
steps of the electoral process; including the candidate selection
process.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2016: S570/A5777 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS/referred to election law
2015: S570/A5777 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS/referred to election law
2013-2014: S213/A2017 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS/referred to election law
2011-2012: S56/A5928 - COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO
RULES/referred to election law
2009-2010: S4543/A408 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS/referred to election law
2007-2008: A8035 - referred to election law
2005-2006: A1829 (Grannis) referred to election law
2003-2004: A711 (Grannis) - referred to election law
2001-2002: A7041-A (Grannis)- referred to election law

 FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect sixty days after it shall have become a
law.