NY State Senate Bill 2019-S7324

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 17, 2020	referred to elections

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8625
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §5-210, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S1853, A4901
2023-2024: S386, A1960, A6038

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the voter registration integrity act; requires a birth certificate, passport, certificate of naturalization or citizenship, evidence of New York state residency, or any other documentation that the board of elections determines establishes United States citizenship.

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7324

SPONSOR: BORRELLO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to enacting the "voter
registration integrity act"

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that newly registered
voters are citizens of the United States.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 names the bill the "voter registration integrity act."

Section 2 amends section 5-210 of the election law by requiring first-
time voter registration applications to include a birth certificate
establishing U.S. citizenship, a valid U.S, passport, a certificate of
naturalization or citizenship, or such other documentation that the

state board of elections determines establishes U.S. citizenship.

Section 3 amends section 5-210 of the election to include documentation
of U.S. citizenship.

Section 4 provides that this bill would become effective 60 days after
it becomes law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Fundamental to a valid democracy is that those who run the country as
elected officials are elected by those who are citizens of the country.
Otherwise, those who are illegally in the country or are not citizens
would be able to help elect federal, state, and local public officials,
whose loyalty to the citizens of the country might be compromised.

New York State currently does not require any documentary evidence of
U.S. citizenship for new voter registrations. The boards of election
require applicants for voter registration to provide a driver's license
number or the last four digits of their social security number, but
neither number proves U.S. citizenship because driver's licenses will
now be issued to illegal immigrants and social security numbers are
available to noncitizen immigrants who are in the United States with a
temporary work visa or noncitizen permanent residents with a "green
card."

This legislation will correct this glaring weakness in the New York
voter registration process by requiring documentation of U.S. citizen-
ship. These documentation requirements are not difficult or onerous, and
are similar to the documentation requirements that applied to new driver
license applications that apply to lawful residents.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

The board of elections will incur additional staff and computer expense
to ensure that appropriate documents are submitted as part of the voter
registration process.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 60 days after it becomes law, although the
state board of elections could immediately begin adopting necessary
rules and regulations to implement the provisions of the law.

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7324
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 17, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. BORRELLO -- 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  enacting  the  "voter
   registration integrity act"
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 the "voter registration integrity act".
   §  2.  Section  5-210  of  the election law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 5-a to read as follows:
   5-A.  IN ADDITION TO DOCUMENTATION OF NEW YORK RESIDENCY, THE BOARD OF
 ELECTIONS SHALL REQUIRE THAT EACH FIRST-TIME VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICA-
 TION INCLUDE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
   (A) AN ORIGINAL OR CERTIFIED COPY OF A BIRTH CERTIFICATE  ESTABLISHING
 UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP;
   (B) A VALID UNITED STATES PASSPORT;
   (C) A CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION OR CITIZENSHIP; OR
   (D)  SUCH  OTHER  DOCUMENTATION THAT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS DETERMINES
 ESTABLISHES UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.
   § 3. Clause (D) of subparagraph (vii) of paragraph (k) of  subdivision
 5 of section 5-210 of the election law, as amended by chapter 179 of the
 laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
   (D)  a  copy  of  a  current  utility bill, bank statement, government
 check, paycheck or other government document that  shows  the  name  and
 address of the voter; AND
   (E)  IN ADDITION TO DOCUMENTATION OF NEW YORK RESIDENCY, A COPY OF ONE
 OF THE FOLLOWING:
   (1) AN ORIGINAL OR CERTIFIED COPY OF A BIRTH CERTIFICATE  ESTABLISHING
 UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP;
   (2) A VALID UNITED STATES PASSPORT;
   (3) A CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION OR CITIZENSHIP; OR
   (4)  SUCH  OTHER  DOCUMENTATION THAT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS DETERMINES
 ESTABLISHES UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD13471-03-9

 S. 7324                             2
 
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
 repeal  of  any  rule  or regulation necessary for the implementation of
 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made  and  completed
 on or before such effective date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S7324

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S7324

Share this bill

Sponsored By

George M. Borrello

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7324 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments