BILL NUMBER: S7109

SPONSOR: KAVANAGH
 
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 prima-
ry 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 proc-
ess.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2016: S570/A5777 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS/referred to election law
2015: S570/A5777 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS/referred to election law
2013-2014: 5213/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.