S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  1493--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 11, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. CARROLL, SIMON -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Election  Law  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,
   ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the election law, in relation to validating absentee
   ballots

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section 9-209 of the election law, as
 amended by chapter 104 of the laws  of  2010,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   1.  (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  EXAM-
 INE,  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  fourteen days after a general or special election and no more than
 eight days after a primary election at which  such  ballots  are  voted]
 PURPOSES.  STARTING  FORTY  DAYS  PRIOR TO THE DAY OF THE ELECTION, SUCH
 POLL CLERKS SHALL EXAMINE AND DETERMINE THE VALIDITY OF ABSENTEE  BALLOT
 ENVELOPES AS THEY ARE RECEIVED BY THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS.  SUCH EXAMINA-
 TION  SHALL  OCCUR  EVERY BUSINESS DAY PRIOR TO THE DAY OF THE ELECTION,
 OR, UPON BIPARTISAN AGREEMENT, ON SUCH OTHER SCHEDULE AS  DETERMINED  BY
 THE  BOARD,  PROVIDED  THAT  THE BOARD POST WHEN SUCH EXAMINATIONS SHALL
 OCCUR ON ITS WEBSITE.
   (B) BEGINNING AT THE CLOSE OF POLLS ON  THE  SECOND  SUNDAY  OF  EARLY
 VOTING,  BOARD OF ELECTIONS EMPLOYEES SHALL BEGIN TO PREPARE AND CANVASS
 VALID ABSENTEE BALLOTS RECEIVED PRIOR TO SUCH  DATE  FOR  CANVASSING  BY
 HAND  OR  CENTRAL  SCANNER.  SUCH  PREPARATION SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE
 LIMITED TO, REVIEWING THE  VOTER  HISTORY  RECORD  FOR  EACH  VOTER  WHO
 SUBMITTED  AN ABSENTEE BALLOT TO REFLECT ANY INSTANCE OF EARLY VOTING BY
 SUCH VOTERS, OPENING ABSENTEE  BALLOT  AFFIRMATION  ENVELOPES,  REMOVING
 BALLOTS  FROM  ABSENTEE  BALLOT AFFIRMATION ENVELOPES, STACKING ABSENTEE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD03358-03-1

 A. 1493--A                          2
 
 BALLOTS, AND INSERTING BALLOTS INTO A  CENTRAL  SCANNER  OR  OTHER  VOTE
 COUNTING  DEVICE.  ANY BALLOTS PREPARED AND CANVASSED DURING THIS PERIOD
 SHALL BE SECURED IN THE SAME MANNER AS VOTED BALLOTS CAST  DURING  EARLY
 VOTING OR ON ELECTION DAY.
   (C)  NO UNOFFICIAL TABULATIONS OF ELECTION RESULTS SHALL BE PRINTED OR
 VIEWED IN ANY MANNER UNTIL AFTER THE CLOSE OF POLLS ON ELECTION  DAY  AT
 WHICH  TIME  SUCH  TABULATIONS  SHALL  BE  ADDED INTO THE ELECTION NIGHT
 CANVASS TOTALS.
   (D) BOARD OF ELECTIONS EMPLOYEES SHALL FOLLOW ALL RELEVANT  PROVISIONS
 OF  THIS  ARTICLE  FOR CANVASSING, PROCESSING, RECORDING, AND ANNOUNCING
 RESULTS OF VOTING AND SECURING BALLOTS,  SCANNERS,  AND  OTHER  ELECTION
 MATERIALS.  SUCH  CANVASS  MAY  OCCUR  AT  THE  OFFICES  OF THE BOARD OF
 ELECTIONS, OR SUCH OTHER LOCATION DESIGNATED BY THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS.
   (E) IN CANVASSING SUCH BALLOTS,  THE  BOARD  SHALL  TAKE  ALL MEASURES
 NECESSARY TO ENSURE THE PRIVACY OF  VOTERS  AND  NON-PUBLIC  RELEASE  OF
 ELECTION  RESULTS  PRIOR  TO THE CLOSE OF POLLS ON ELECTION DAY.
   (F)  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.
   [(b)] (G) WATCHERS ARE ENTITLED TO BE PRESENT AT MEETINGS  RELATED  TO
 EXAMINING  ABSENTEE  BALLOT  ENVELOPES PRIOR TO THE DAY OF THE ELECTION;
 PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT ANY OBJECTION TO A BOARD  DETERMINATION  THAT  A
 BALLOT  ENVELOPE IS ELIGIBLE TO BE CANVASSED MUST BE MADE AT THE MEETING
 SUCH DETERMINATION IS MADE; AN  OBJECTION  SUBSEQUENT  TO  SUCH  MEETING
 SHALL  BE INVALID. At least five days prior to the time fixed for [such]
 A meeting TO EXAMINE OR CAST AND CANVASS ABSENTEE BALLOTS SUBSEQUENT  TO
 THE DAY OF THE ELECTION, the board shall send notice by first class mail
 to  each  candidate,  political  party, and independent body entitled to
 have had watchers present at the polls in any election district  in  the
 board's  jurisdiction.  Such notice shall state the time and place fixed
 by the board for such canvass.
   [(c)] (H) Each such candidate, political party, and  independent  body
 shall be entitled to appoint such number of watchers to attend upon each
 central board of inspectors as such candidate, political party, or inde-
 pendent  body  was  entitled  to  appoint  at  such  election in any one
 election district for which such central board of inspectors  is  desig-
 nated to act.
   §  2.  Section  9-209 of the election law is amended by adding two new
 subdivisions 4 and 5 to read as follows:
   4. IF THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS  MANUALLY  CANVASSES  BALLOTS,  IT  SHALL
 REVIEW  THE  BALLOT  TO  DETERMINE  ITS VALIDITY CONSISTENT WITH SECTION
 9-112 OF THIS ARTICLE.  IN CASES WHERE THE EXPRESS INTENT OF  THE  VOTER
 IS  UNAMBIGUOUS,  ANY  STRAY  MARKS  OR WRITING SHALL NOT BE A BASIS FOR
 VOIDING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT. IF THE ABSENTEE BALLOTS ARE TABULATED BY  AN
 OPTICAL  SCAN  VOTING SYSTEM, THEN A REVIEW OF THE ABSENTEE BALLOT SHALL
 NOT OCCUR.
   5. IF AN AFFIDAVIT BALLOT WAS CAST BY A VOTER ON THE DAY  OF  ELECTION
 AND  IT IS DETERMINED HE OR SHE SUBMITTED AN ABSENTEE BALLOT, SUCH AFFI-
 DAVIT SHALL BE LEFT ASIDE, UNOPENED.

 A. 1493--A                          3
 
   § 3. Clause (A) of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision  2
 of  section  9-209 of the election law, as amended by chapter 308 of the
 laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   (A)  If  a  person whose name is on an envelope as a voter has already
 voted in person at such election, or if his or her name and residence as
 stated on the envelope are not on a registration  poll  record,  or  the
 computer  generated  list  of  registered  voters or the list of special
 presidential voters, or if there is no name on the envelope, or  if  the
 envelope  is  not  sealed,  such  envelope shall be laid aside unopened;
 PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT IF THE ENVELOPE IS NOT SEALED, SUCH VOTER  SHALL
 RECEIVE  NOTICE  PURSUANT  TO PARAGRAPH (A) OF SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS
 SECTION.
   § 4. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section  5-506  of  the  election
 law,  as  amended  by  section 6 of part XX of chapter 55 of the laws of
 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   c. The computer generated registration list prepared for each election
 in each election district shall be prepared in a manner which  meets  or
 exceeds standards for clarity and speed of production established by the
 state  board  of  elections,  shall be in a form approved by such board,
 shall include the names of all voters eligible to vote in such  election
 and  shall be in alphabetical order, except that, at a primary election,
 the names of the voters enrolled in each political party may  be  placed
 in  a  separate  part of the list or in a separate list, as the board of
 elections in its discretion, may determine.  Such  list  shall  contain,
 adjacent to each voter's name, or in a space so designated, at least the
 following:  street  address,  date  of  birth, party enrollment, year of
 registration, a computer reproduced facsimile of the  voter's  signature
 or  an indication that the voter is unable to sign his name, a place for
 the voter to sign his name at such election and a place for the  inspec-
 tors  to  mark  the  voting machine number, the public counter number if
 any, or the number of any paper ballots given  the  voter.    SUCH  LIST
 SHALL  ALSO  INCLUDE A NOTATION INDICATING IF SUCH VOTER WAS PROVIDED AN
 ABSENTEE BALLOT FOR THE APPLICABLE ELECTION; PROVIDED HOWEVER SUCH NOTA-
 TION SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED FOR ANY  LIST  BEING  UTILIZED  DURING  EARLY
 VOTING.  THE  FORMAT FOR SUCH NOTATION SHALL BE PROMULGATED BY THE STATE
 BOARD OF ELECTIONS AND USED UNIFORMLY IN COMPUTER GENERATED REGISTRATION
 LISTS.
   § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 4-128 of the election law, as amended by
 section 2 of part XX of chapter 55 of the laws of 2019,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   1.  The  board of elections of each county shall provide the requisite
 number of official and facsimile ballots, two cards  of  instruction  to
 voters  in the form prescribed by the state board of elections, at least
 one copy of the instruction booklet for inspectors, a sufficient  number
 of  maps,  street  finders  or  other descriptions of all of the polling
 places and election districts within the political subdivision in  which
 the  polling place is located to enable the election inspectors and poll
 clerks to determine the correct election district and polling place  for
 each  street address within the political subdivision in which the poll-
 ing place is located, distance markers, tally sheets and return  blanks,
 pens,  pencils,  or other appropriate marking devices, envelopes for the
 ballots of voters whose registration poll records are not in the  ledger
 or  whose  names  are  not  in the computer generated registration list,
 ENVELOPES FOR THE ABSENTEE BALLOTS OF VOTERS WHO HAVE ELECTED TO VOTE BY
 MACHINE TO BE VOIDED, envelopes  for  returns,  identification  buttons,
 badges  or  emblems for the inspectors and clerks in the form prescribed

 A. 1493--A                          4
 
 by the state board of elections and such other articles of stationery as
 may be necessary for the proper conduct of elections, except that when a
 town, city or village holds an election not conducted by  the  board  of
 elections,  the  clerk of such town, city or village, shall provide such
 official and facsimile ballots and the necessary  blanks,  supplies  and
 stationery for such election.
   §  6.  Section  8-302 of the election law is amended by adding two new
 subdivisions 2-b and 3-d to read as follows:
   2-B. IF ON ELECTION DAY A  VOTER'S  NAME  APPEARS  IN  THE  LEDGER  OR
 COMPUTER GENERATED REGISTRATION LIST WITH A NOTATION INDICATING THAT THE
 VOTER  WAS PROVIDED AN ABSENTEE BALLOT, SUCH VOTER SHALL BE PERMITTED TO
 CAST HIS OR HER VOTE ON THE VOTING MACHINE IF THE VOTER  SURRENDERS  HIS
 OR  HER  ABSENTEE  BALLOT AND AFFIRMATION OATH ENVELOPE TO THE INSPECTOR
 AND SUCH ABSENTEE BALLOT IS MARKED "VOTED IN PERSON" AND PLACED  BY  THE
 INSPECTOR IN AN ENVELOPE DESIGNATED FOR THIS PURPOSE.
   3-D.  IF  ON  ELECTION  DAY  A  VOTER'S  NAME APPEARS IN THE LEDGER OR
 COMPUTER GENERATED REGISTRATION LIST WITH A NOTATION INDICATING THAT THE
 VOTER WAS PROVIDED AN ABSENTEE  BALLOT  AND  SUCH  VOTER  IS  UNABLE  TO
 SURRENDER  HIS  OR  HER BALLOT AND AFFIRMATION OATH ENVELOPE PURSUANT TO
 SUBDIVISION TWO-B OF THIS SECTION, SUCH VOTER SHALL ONLY BE ENTITLED  TO
 VOTE BY AFFIDAVIT BALLOT UNLESS A COURT ORDER PROVIDES OTHERWISE.
   §  7.  Section  16-106  of the election law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 4-a to read as follows:
   4-A. IN ORDER TO OBTAIN ANY ORDER FOR TEMPORARY OR PRELIMINARY INJUNC-
 TIVE RELIEF OR AN IMPOUND ORDER HALTING OR ALTERING  THE  CANVASSING  OF
 ABSENTEE  OR  AFFIDAVIT BALLOTS AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 9-209 OF THIS
 CHAPTER, IN ADDITION TO THE CRITERIA IN ARTICLE SIXTY-THREE OF THE CIVIL
 PRACTICE LAW AND RULES, THE PETITIONER MUST SHOW, BY CLEAR AND  CONVINC-
 ING  EVIDENCE, THAT, BECAUSE OF PROCEDURAL IRREGULARITIES OR OTHER FACTS
 ARISING DURING THE ELECTION, THE PETITIONER WILL BE  IRREPARABLY  HARMED
 ABSENT  SUCH  RELIEF.    FOR  PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, ALLEGATIONS THAT
 OPINION POLLS SHOW THAT AN ELECTION IS CLOSE  IS  INSUFFICIENT  TO  SHOW
 IRREPARABLE HARM TO A PETITIONER BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE.
   §  8.  Section  16-102  of the election law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 3-a to read as follows:
   3-A. IN ORDER TO OBTAIN ANY ORDER FOR TEMPORARY OR PRELIMINARY INJUNC-
 TIVE RELIEF OR AN IMPOUND ORDER HALTING OR ALTERING  THE  CANVASSING  OF
 ABSENTEE  OR  AFFIDAVIT BALLOTS AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 9-209 OF THIS
 CHAPTER, IN ADDITION TO THE CRITERIA IN ARTICLE SIXTY-THREE OF THE CIVIL
 PRACTICE LAW AND RULES, THE PETITIONER MUST SHOW, BY CLEAR AND  CONVINC-
 ING  EVIDENCE, THAT, BECAUSE OF PROCEDURAL IRREGULARITIES OR OTHER FACTS
 ARISING DURING THE ELECTION, THE PETITIONER WILL BE  IRREPARABLY  HARMED
 ABSENT  SUCH  RELIEF.    FOR  PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, ALLEGATIONS THAT
 OPINION POLLS SHOW THAT AN ELECTION IS CLOSE  IS  INSUFFICIENT  TO  SHOW
 IRREPARABLE HARM TO A PETITIONER BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE.
   §  9.  Subdivision 5 of section 16-106 of the election law, as amended
 by chapter 359 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
   5. A proceeding under subdivisions one and three of this section  must
 be  instituted  within  twenty  days  and  under subdivision two OF THIS
 SECTION, within thirty days after  the  election  or  alleged  erroneous
 statement  or  determination  was made, or the time when the board shall
 have acted in the particulars as to which it is claimed to  have  failed
 to  perform  its  duty,  except that such a proceeding with respect to a
 village election must be instituted within ten days after such election,
 statement, determination or action; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT ANY PROCEED-
 ING SEEKING TO REVERSE A DETERMINATION OF  A  BOARD  OF  ELECTIONS  THAT

 A. 1493--A                          5
 
 RESULTS IN VALIDATING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION SHALL BE INSTITUTED
 WITHIN  TWO DAYS OF SUCH DETERMINATION, WITH THE VOTER IN QUESTION BEING
 NAMED AS A NECESSARY PARTY; PROVIDED FURTHER THAT ANY  PROCEEDING  CHAL-
 LENGING THE CANVASSING OF AN ABSENTEE BALLOT DUE TO AN ALLEGED DEFECT ON
 THE AFFIRMATION ENVELOPE MUST NAME THE VOTER AS A NECESSARY PARTY.
   §  10.  The  state  board of elections shall promulgate rules or regu-
 lations necessary for the implementation of these provisions  including,
 but  not be limited to, (i) ensuring that voters who submitted an absen-
 tee ballot and thereafter voted in person during the early voting period
 not have their absentee ballot  canvassed  in  the  election;  and  (ii)
 ballots  are  counted in an efficient and fair process that respects the
 privacy of the voter.
   § 11. Subdivision 20 of section 17-130 of the election law is  amended
 to read as follows:
   20.  Intentionally  opens an absentee voter's envelope or examines the
 contents thereof after the receipt of  the  envelope  by  the  board  of
 elections  and  before  the close of the polls at the election EXCEPT AS
 PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 9-209 OF THIS CHAPTER; or,
   § 12. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after  it  shall
 have become a law.