NY State Senate Bill 2021-S2166

Senate Bill S2166

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to exempting certain public school buildings from being designated as early polling locations

download bill text pdf

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

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to elections
Jan 20, 2021	referred to elections

2021-S2166 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6076
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§8-600 & 4-104, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S5795, A7554
2023-2024: A2338

2021-S2166 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Exempts public school buildings with instructional space from being designated as early polling locations; allows school districts to decline school building designations as early polling locations.

2021-S2166 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S2166

SPONSOR: MAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to exempting certain
public school buildings from being designated as early polling locations

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to clarify election laws to make
certain no instructional buildings with children present are designated
as early voting locations.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the Election Law is amended
to add a new paragraph (e) that states no school district building with
instructional space shall be designated as an early polling location.

Section 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the Election Law is amended

to allow public school buildings, when designated as an early polling
location, to decline that designation.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In many areas of the state, school district buildings are one of the few
ADA accessible locations with ample parking. Which is why, when neces-
sary, certain school buildings have been designated as polling locations
on Election Day. There have been various efforts in some districts to
remove students from buildings on these days for security purposes,
including closing all schools to students during elections or designat-
ing Election Day as a Superintendents day. That said, it would be unrea-
sonable to require schools to make such accommodations for the extended
period of time needed to serve as an early voting polling location.

Most county and municipal election commissioners recognize this would
place an undue burden on the school districts. This new bill would
simply clarifies the law to make certain no such designations are made.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-2020 - S.5795 (May) Referred to Elections /A.7554 (Stirpe) Referred
to Election Law

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2021-S2166 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2166
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 20, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  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  exempting  certain
   public  school  buildings  from  being  designated  as  early  polling
   locations

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section  8-600 of the election law is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E) NO PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING WITH INSTRUCTIONAL SPACE SHALL BE DESIG-
 NATED AS AN EARLY POLLING LOCATION.
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law, as amended by
 chapter 694 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
   3. A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible  as
 a  polling  place if it is situated in the same or a contiguous election
 district, and may contain as many distinctly separate polling places  as
 public  convenience  may require. The expense, if any, incidental to its
 use, shall be paid like the expense of other places of registration  and
 voting. If a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses
 a  public  school  building  for such purpose, the board or agency which
 controls such building must make available  a  room  or  rooms  in  such
 building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as
 close  as  possible  to  a convenient entrance to such building and must
 make available any such room or rooms which the board or body  designat-
 ing  such  building  determines  are  accessible  to physically disabled
 voters as provided in subdivision one-a.  NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS
 OF THIS SUBDIVISION, NO BOARD OR BODY  EMPOWERED  TO  DESIGNATE  POLLING
 PLACES SHALL DESIGNATE A PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING WITH INSTRUCTIONAL SPACE
 AS  AN  EARLY  POLLING  LOCATION, AND IF SUCH BOARD OR BODY DESIGNATES A
 PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING THAT DOES NOT  HAVE  INSTRUCTIONAL  SPACE  AS  AN
 EARLY  POLLING  LOCATION, THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SUCH SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD04658-01-1

 S. 2166                             2
 
 DECLINE SUCH DESIGNATION. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general,
 special or local law, if a board or body empowered to designate  polling
 places  chooses a publicly owned or leased building, other than a public
 school building, for such purposes the board or body which controls such
 building  must make available a room or rooms in such building which are
 suitable for registration and voting and which are as close as  possible
 to  a  convenient entrance to such building, and must make available any
 such room or rooms which the board or  body  designating  such  building
 determines  are  accessible  to  physically  disabled voters unless, not
 later than thirty days after notice of  its  designation  as  a  polling
 place,  the  board  or  body  controlling such building, files a written
 request for a cancellation of such designation with the  board  or  body
 empowered  to designate polling places on such form as shall be provided
 by the board  or  body  making  such  designation.  The  board  or  body
 empowered  to  so designate shall, within twenty days after such request
 is filed, determine whether the use of such building as a polling  place
 would unreasonably interfere with the usual activities conducted in such
 building and upon such determination, may cancel such designation.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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