BILL NUMBER: S8506

SPONSOR: BORRELLO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to prohibiting ballot
harvesting

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would amend the election law, to prohibit ballot harvesting,
and to provide criminal penalties for such acts.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

This bill would add a new section 8-414 of the election law to prohibit
ballot harvesting. Pursuant to this section, ballot harvesting would
include:

* The making or submission of an application for an absentee ballot on
behalf of another voter; and/or
              

* The collection, distribution or submission to a board of elections of
voted or unvoted ballots.  This new section 8-414 would further provide
that:

* A person may submit an application for an absentee ballot on behalf of
another voter, if the voter has signed the absentee ballot application,
and if:

* The person submitting such application for an absentee ballot on
behalf of the other voter, is a family member of the other voter, within
three degrees of consanguinity; or

* A voter has executed a signed, written, notarized consent, not more
than 30 days prior to the date of the application, authorizing the
person submitting the application to do so on the voter's behalf, and
such person submitting the application on such other voter's behalf also
files such signed, written, notarized consent with the local board of
elections at the time of submitting such application, and such person
submitting the application has not submitted any other application on
behalf of any other voter.

* A person may collect, distribute or submit to a board of elections, a
voted or unvoted absentee ballot, if such person collecting, distribut-
ing or submitting such ballot is:

* A family member of the voter, to whom the absentee ballot belongs,
within three degrees of consanguinity; or

* A caregiver of the voter, to whom the absentee ballot belongs, if such
voter has filed with the board of elections, asigned, written, notarized
statement executed by the voter, that such person so collecting,
distributing and/or submitting the ballot on the voter's behalf, is in
fact a caregiver of the voter, with permission to collect, distribute
and/or submit such voter's absentee ballot; or HALM

* An election official employed by the board of elections, who at the
time of the collection, distribution or submission of such absentee
ballot, was exclusively engaged in and performing their official duties;
or

* A United States postal service employee, who at the time of the
collection, distribution or submission of such absentee ballot, was
exclusively engaged in and performing their official duties; or

* A delivery courier hired by the voter whose ballot is being collected,
distributed or submitted, who at the time of the collection, distrib-
ution or submission of such absentee ballot, was exclusively engaged in
and performing their official duties.

Lastly, this bill would add a new section 17-172 of the election law, to
provide that any person who willfully engages in unlawful ballot
harvesting would be guilty of a class D felony, and that any person who
engages in unlawful ballot harvesting would be guilty of a class A
misdemeanor.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Ballot Harvesting, which is the collection, distribution and submission
of absentee and/or mail in ballots, on behalf of other voters, seriously
compromises ballot integrity, and seriously undermines peoples' faith in
our electoral process.  Such activities, are the political weaponization
of the electoral process, and are not about encouraging voters to vote,
but rather are an issue of controlling voters and manipulating
elections, where votes are gathered, harvested, controlled and manipu-
lated to control, direct and determine, the outcome of elections.

From North Carolina, to California, and even here in New York, we have
seen voter harvesting gain an increasing foothold. Wherever this unseem-
ly practice has been allowed to occur, it has compromised the control
and integrity of the physical ballot of voters, and has exponentially
increased the ability to conduct voter fraud. Under this scheme, nefari-
ous parties can fill out ballots they control, coerce or forge signa-
tures, and actually act to cast the ballot in one specific direction.

These disgraceful actions bypass the proven structure of privacy and
ballot integrity, that traditional absentee ballot procedures, and in
person polling sites, under the bi-partisan supervision of election
officials, have provided successfully for generations. Moreover, this
disdainful practice has been found by U.S. Election Assistance Commis-
sion surveys, to have led to millions of mailed ballots being misdi-
rected or disappearing in prior elections.  The people of New York
deserve ballot integrity, and to have faith in their elections. They
know that an election without ballot integrity, is not an election, but
a coup.

After numerous reports and investigations regarding voter harvesting in
California, North Carolina, Arizona and Texas, in 2018, the Arizona and
Texas legislatures each specifically enacted a ballot harvesting ban.
Such a ban is especially important in rural areas, which are especially
vulnerable to vote fraud and manipulation, as local elections often turn
on just a handful of votes.  That is why this bill, which seeks to deter
the disgraced practices of vote fraud, manipulation and ballot harvest-
ing, by making its willful act, a class D felony, is so important.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None Noted.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Nov 1st after it shall have become a law.