S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    635
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. CARROLL, NIOU, COLTON, PHEFFER AMATO, BICHOTTE,
   SEAWRIGHT,  GOTTFRIED,   HYNDMAN,   RICHARDSON,   J. RIVERA,   STIRPE,
   DE LA ROSA,  DINOWITZ,  WALKER,  SIMON, BARRON, HEVESI, THIELE, RODRI-
   GUEZ, PICHARDO, PEOPLES-STOKES, TAYLOR, EPSTEIN, KIM -- read once  and
   referred to the Committee on Election Law
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the election law, in relation to the qualifications of
   voters; and to amend the education law, in relation to civic education
   and student voter registration
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section  5-102 of the election law is
 amended to read as follows:
   1. No person shall be qualified  to  register  for  and  vote  at  any
 election  unless  [he] SUCH PERSON is a citizen of the United States and
 is or will be, on the day of such election, [eighteen] SIXTEEN years  of
 age  or  over,  and  a resident of this state and of the county, city or
 village for a minimum of thirty days next preceding such election.
   § 2. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of  the  election
 law,  as amended by chapter 2 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
 follows:
   (g) Notice that the applicant must be a citizen of the United  States,
 is  OR  WILL  BE  at  least sixteen years old [when he or she submits an
 application to register to vote which will be  effective  for  elections
 occurring  on  or  after  the applicant turns eighteen years of age] NOT
 LATER THAN DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST OF THE CALENDAR YEAR IN WHICH HE OR SHE
 REGISTERS and a resident of the county or city to which  application  is
 made.
   § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 8-504 of the election law, as renumbered
 by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD02814-01-1

 A. 635                              2
 
   3.  After  receiving the answers as above specified, of any applicant,
 the board shall, if it believes the applicant to  be  qualified  or  the
 challenge  is withdrawn, permit him OR HER to vote. Otherwise, the board
 shall point out to him OR HER the qualifications, if any, in respect  of
 which he OR SHE shall appear deficient. If, after such deficiencies have
 been  so  indicated,  the applicant shall persist in his OR HER claim to
 vote, an inspector shall administer to him OR HER  the  following  oath,
 which  shall  be  known  as  "The Qualification Oath": "You do swear (or
 affirm) that you are [eighteen] SIXTEEN years of age,  that  you  are  a
 citizen  of  the United States and that you have been a resident of this
 state, and of this county (of the city of New York) (village) for thirty
 days next preceding this election, that you still  reside  at  the  same
 address  from  which  you  have  been  duly  registered in this election
 district, that you have not voted at this election, and that you do  not
 know  of  any reason why you are not qualified to vote at this election.
 You do further declare that you are aware that it is a crime to make any
 false statement. That all the statements you have made to the board have
 been true and that you understand that a false statement is perjury  and
 you will be guilty of a misdemeanor."
   §  4. Subdivision 1 of section 801 of the education law, as amended by
 section 27 of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, is amended and a
 new subdivision 6 is added to read as follows:
   1. In order to promote a spirit of patriotic  and  civic  service  and
 obligation  and  to foster in the children of the state moral and intel-
 lectual qualities which are essential in preparing  to  meet  the  obli-
 gations of citizenship in peace or in war, the regents of The University
 of  the  State  of  New  York  shall prescribe courses of instruction in
 patriotism, citizenship, civic education and values, our shared  history
 of diversity, the role of religious tolerance in this country, and human
 rights  issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity
 of genocide, slavery (including the freedom trail and underground  rail-
 road),  the  Holocaust,  and the mass starvation in Ireland from 1845 to
 1850, to be maintained and followed in all the schools of the state. The
 boards of education and  trustees  of  the  several  cities  and  school
 districts  of  the  state  shall require instruction to be given in such
 courses, by the teachers employed in the  schools  therein.  All  pupils
 attending  such  schools, over the age of eight years, shall attend upon
 such instruction. ALL PUPILS  IN  THE  NINTH  AND  HIGHER  GRADES  SHALL
 RECEIVE  CIVIC  EDUCATION  FOR  AT  LEAST  EIGHT  FULL CLASS PERIODS, IN
 ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEPARTMENT'S 9-12 SOCIAL STUDIES FRAMEWORK.
   Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and  maintained  in
 private  schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools over eight
 years of age shall attend upon such courses. If such courses are not  so
 established and maintained in a private school, attendance upon instruc-
 tion  in  such  school  shall  not be deemed substantially equivalent to
 instruction given to pupils of like age in the  public  schools  of  the
 city or district in which such pupils reside.
    6.  A.  THE  REGENTS,  IN  COLLABORATION  WITH  THE  STATE  BOARD  OF
 ELECTIONS, SHALL MAKE AVAILABLE TO EACH HIGH  SCHOOL  TWO  FORMS  TO  BE
 DISTRIBUTED TO ALL PUPILS WHO SHALL BE SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE ON OR BEFORE
 DECEMBER  THIRTY-FIRST  OF EACH YEAR. SUCH FORMS SHALL BE DISTRIBUTED ON
 ONE DATE BETWEEN THE SECOND AND FIFTH SCHOOL DAY IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY
 OF EACH YEAR.
   B. THE FIRST FORM TO BE DISTRIBUTED PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL
 BE A STANDARD VOTER REGISTRATION FORM AS PRESCRIBED BY SECTION 5-210  OF
 THE  ELECTION LAW. SUCH FORM SHALL BE COMPLETED FOR EACH ELIGIBLE PUPIL,

 A. 635                              3
 
 BY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS WHO SHALL COMPLETE EACH FIELD OF THE  REGISTRA-
 TION  FORM  EXCEPT  THE  FIELDS  PERTAINING TO CITIZENSHIP STATUS, PARTY
 AFFILIATION, SIGNATURE AND DATE. THE CONTENT OF  THE  REGISTRATION  FORM
 SHALL  BE  EXPLAINED  TO  ALL  PUPILS  TO WHOM FORMS ARE DISTRIBUTED AND
 PUPILS SHALL BE DIRECTED TO CORRECT ANY INCORRECT INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY
 COMPLETED BY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS.
   C. THE SECOND FORM TO BE  DISTRIBUTED  PURSUANT  TO  THIS  SUBDIVISION
 SHALL  BE  ENTITLED  "VOTER REGISTRATION OPT-OUT FORM" AND SHALL CONTAIN
 THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT: "I, THE UNDERSIGNED, DECLINE TO REGISTER  AS  A
 VOTER  IN  THE  STATE  OF  NEW YORK AT THIS TIME, AND DEFER MY CHOICE OF
 REGISTRATION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK TO A FUTURE DATE OF MY  CHOOSING."
 SUCH  FORM  SHALL  BE  CREATED  BY THE REGENTS IN COLLABORATION WITH THE
 STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS.
   D. PUPILS SHALL BE GIVEN CLASSROOM TIME TO  HAVE  THE  OPPORTUNITY  TO
 COMPLETE EITHER THE STANDARD VOTER REGISTRATION FORM OR THE VOTER REGIS-
 TRATION OPT-OUT FORM. AFTER PUPILS HAVE HAD TIME TO COMPLETE BOTH FORMS,
 SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATORS  SHALL COLLECT BOTH FORMS FROM ALL PUPILS TO WHOM
 THE FORMS WERE DISTRIBUTED.  SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SHALL BE REQUIRED  TO
 DISPOSE  OF  ALL  VOTER  REGISTRATION  FORMS FOR PUPILS WHO ELECT TO NOT
 REGISTER TO VOTE.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on  the  same  date  as  a  concurrent
 resolution amending the constitution, entitled "CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF
 THE  SENATE  AND ASSEMBLY proposing amendments to section 1 of article 2
 of the constitution, in relation to the voting age"; provided,  however,
 that  the  amendments  made to paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section
 5-210 of the election law made by section two of this  act,  shall  take
 effect immediately.