BILL NUMBER: S4865

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to websites maintained by
a board of elections

 
PURPOSE:

to require any Board of Elections maintaining a website to use a .gov
domain name for such website.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the elections law by requiring any Board of Elections
that maintains a website shall use a .gov domain for such website.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

It is imperative that New York voters can confidently access accurate
election information. Currently, Board of Election websites do not need
to maintain a .gov domain for their website. These websites often use
.org or .com domains which can easily be used or set up by cyber attack-
ers as a way to misinform voters seeking election information.

A person could feasibly buy a .org or .com domain name and create a fake
Board of Elections website to target an area or population in order to
suppress voters. These falsified websites could look identical to the
Board of Elections website, but with minor changes like polling
locations and times. Unlike .org or .com domains, websites that maintain
or request a .gov domain are approved and monitored by the federal
government.

There is currently not a way for voters to discern between a credible
Board of Elections website and a falsified website with incorrect infor-
mation. Requiring all New York State Board of Election websites to use a
.gov domain is a simple, yet effective way to prevent the rapid spread
of misinformation. This way, individuals will be able to distinguish
between the real Board of Election sites and any fake ones.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A.10092 of 2020, referred to election law

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year following the date upon which it