S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
6482--B
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
May 3, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. MYRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to establishing an elec-
tronic absentee ballot application transmittal system
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 8-400 of the election law, the
opening paragraph as amended by chapter 216 of the laws of 1988, para-
graph (a) as amended by chapter 263 of the laws of 1991, paragraph (c)
as amended by chapter 321 of the laws of 1988 and paragraph (d) as sepa-
rately amended by chapters 97 and 104 of the laws of 2020, is amended to
read as follows:
2. A qualified voter desiring to vote at such election as an absentee
voter for any reason specified in subdivision one hereof must make
application for an absentee ballot on a form to be obtained and filed as
provided herein [or], by letter as provided in paragraph (d) of this
subdivision, OR THROUGH THE ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRAN-
SMITTAL SYSTEM PURSUANT TO SECTION 8-408 OF THIS TITLE.
(a) Application forms shall be furnished by and may be obtained from
any board of elections at any time until the day before such election,
OR ON THE ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM.
Application forms shall also be supplied by the board of inspectors of
the election district in which applicant is a qualified voter on all of
the days provided for local registration. In addition, application forms
shall be supplied upon the request of the person authorized to vote
pursuant to this section, any such person's spouse, parent or child, a
person residing with the applicant as a member of his household, or the
applicant's duly authorized agent. Application forms sent outside of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10858-05-1
S. 6482--B 2
United States to a country other than Canada or Mexico, shall be sent
airmail. Any reference to "board of elections" in the remaining
provisions of this section, except with respect to the furnishing and
obtaining of applications for absentee ballots, means only the board of
elections of the county or city in which the applicant is a qualified
voter.
(b) Applications may be filed [either] with the board of elections,
THROUGH THE ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM or
in person with the board of inspectors of the election district in which
the applicant is a qualified voter[,] on one of the days provided for
local registration.
(c) All applications REQUESTING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT BY MAIL OR THROUGH
THE ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM must be
[mailed to] RECEIVED BY the board of elections not later than the
[seventh] FIFTEENTH day before the election for which a ballot is first
requested [or delivered to]. APPLICATIONS FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT THAT
WILL BE DELIVERED IN PERSON AT THE BOARD OF ELECTION TO THE VOTER OR TO
AN AGENT OF THE VOTER MUST BE RECEIVED BY such board not later than the
day before such election.
(d) The board of elections shall mail an absentee ballot to every
qualified voter otherwise eligible for such a ballot, who requests such
an absentee ballot from such board of elections in writing in a letter,
telefax indicating the address, phone number and the telefax number from
which the writing is sent or other written instrument, OR AN ELECTRONIC
APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY THE VOTER THROUGH THE ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE
BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE BOARD OF
ELECTIONS, which is signed by the voter and received by the board of
elections not [earlier than the thirtieth day nor] later than the
[seventh] FIFTEENTH day before the election for which the ballot is
first requested and which states the address where the voter is regis-
tered and the address to which the ballot is to be mailed; provided,
however, a military voter may request a military ballot or voter regis-
tration application or an absentee ballot application in a letter as
provided in subdivision three of section 10-106 of this chapter; and
provided further, a special federal voter may request a special federal
ballot or voter registration application or an absentee ballot applica-
tion in a letter as provided in paragraph d of subdivision one of
section 11-202 of this chapter. The board of elections shall enclose
with such ballot a form of application for absentee ballot if the appli-
cant is registered with such board of elections.
§ 2. The election law is amended by adding a new section 8-408 to read
as follows:
§ 8-408. ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM. 1.
ESTABLISHMENT. IN ADDITION TO ANY OTHER MEANS OF APPLYING FOR AN ABSEN-
TEE BALLOT, THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN AN
ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM THROUGH WHICH
VOTERS MAY APPLY FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT ONLINE. THE STATE BOARD OF
ELECTIONS SHALL ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMIT SUCH APPLICATIONS TO THE APPLI-
CABLE BOARD OF ELECTIONS OF EACH COUNTY OR THE CITY OF NEW YORK FOR
PROCESSING CONSISTENT WITH THIS CHAPTER. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS PROVIDED BY THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS, EACH BOARD OF
ELECTIONS SHALL MAINTAIN AN ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION SYSTEM CAPABLE
OF RECEIVING AND PROCESSING ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATIONS,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES, FROM THE ELECTRON-
IC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY THE
STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION. SUCH TRANSMITTAL
S. 6482--B 3
SYSTEM SHALL BE FULLY INTEGRATED WITH EACH COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS AND
THE CITY OF NEW YORK BOARD OF ELECTIONS SO THAT A VOTER MAY APPLY ONLINE
DIRECTLY EITHER THROUGH THE WEBSITE OF HIS OR HER BOARD OF ELECTIONS OR
THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER INCONSISTENT
PROVISION OF THIS CHAPTER, APPLICATIONS FILED USING SUCH SYSTEM SHALL BE
CONSIDERED FILED WITH THE APPLICABLE BOARD OF ELECTIONS ON THE CALENDAR
DATE THE APPLICATION IS INITIALLY TRANSMITTED BY THE VOTER THROUGH THE
ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM.
2. ONLINE ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION. (A) A VOTER SHALL BE ABLE TO
APPLY FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT USING A PERSONAL ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION
APPLICATION SUBMITTED THROUGH THE ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION
TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM WHEN THE VOTER:
(I) COMPLETES AN ELECTRONIC ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION PROMULGATED BY
THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS WHICH SHALL INCLUDE ALL OF THE INFORMATION
REQUIRED BY SECTION 8-400 OF THIS TITLE; AND
(II) AFFIRMS, SUBJECT TO PENALTY OF PERJURY, BY MEANS OF ELECTRONIC OR
MANUAL SIGNATURE, THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABSENTEE BALLOT
APPLICATION IS TRUE; AND
(III) CONSENTS TO THE USE OF AN ELECTRONIC COPY OF THE INDIVIDUAL'S
MANUAL SIGNATURE THAT IS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHI-
CLES, THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS, OR OTHER AGENCY DESIGNATED BY
SECTION 5-211 OR 5-212 OF THIS CHAPTER, AS THE INDIVIDUAL'S ABSENTEE
BALLOT EXEMPLAR SIGNATURE, OR PROVIDES SUCH A SIGNATURE BY DIRECT UPLOAD
IN A MANNER THAT COMPLIES WITH THE NEW YORK STATE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE
AND RECORDS ACT AND THE RULES AND REGULATIONS PROMULGATED BY THE STATE
BOARD OF ELECTIONS.
(B) THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL PROVIDE THE PERSONAL ONLINE ABSENTEE
BALLOT APPLICATION IN ANY LANGUAGE REQUIRED BY THE FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS
ACT OF 1965 (52 U.S.C. SEC. 10503) IN ANY COUNTY IN THE STATE.
(C) THE ONLINE ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION PROCESS SHALL PROVIDE
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES AND SHALL BE COMPATIBLE FOR USE WITH STANDARD ONLINE ACCES-
SIBILITY ASSISTANCE TOOLS FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL, PHYSICAL OR PERCEP-
TIVE DISABILITIES.
(D) THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL PROMULGATE RULES AND REGU-
LATIONS FOR THE CREATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF AN ONLINE ABSENTEE BALLOT
REGISTRATION SYSTEM PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION.
3. FAILURE TO PROVIDE EXEMPLAR SIGNATURE NOT TO PREVENT APPLICATION.
(A) IF AN ABSENTEE BALLOT EXEMPLAR SIGNATURE IS NOT PROVIDED BY AN
APPLICANT WHO SUBMITS AN ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION PURSUANT TO THIS
SECTION, THE LOCAL BOARD SHALL SEEK TO OBTAIN SUCH EXEMPLAR SIGNATURE
FROM THE STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASE, THE STATE BOARD OF
ELECTIONS, OR A STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY DESIGNATED BY SECTION 5-211 OR
5-212 OF THIS CHAPTER.
(B) IF SUCH EXEMPLAR SIGNATURE IS NOT AVAILABLE FROM THE STATEWIDE
VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASE, THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS, OR A STATE OR
LOCAL AGENCY DESIGNATED BY SECTION 5-211 OR 5-212 OF THIS CHAPTER, THE
LOCAL BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL, ABSENT ANOTHER REASON TO REJECT THE
APPLICATION, REQUIRE THE VOTER TO PROVIDE AN EXEMPLAR SIGNATURE BY ANY
ONE OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS: IN PERSON, BY ELECTRONIC MAIL, OR BY
ELECTRONIC UPLOAD TO THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS THROUGH THE ELECTRONIC
ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL SYSTEM.
(C) IF SUCH VOTER DOES NOT PROVIDE THE REQUIRED EXEMPLAR SIGNATURE,
THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL PROCEED TO ISSUE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT TO THE
VOTER ALONG WITH AN ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION FORM REQUIRING SUCH
S. 6482--B 4
VOTER TO SUBMIT A SIGNATURE UPON SUCH APPLICATION FORM AND RETURN IT TO
THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS WITH THE VOTER'S BALLOT.
§ 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022. Effective immediate-
ly, the state board of elections shall be authorized to promulgate any
rules or regulations required to carry out the provisions of this act
prior to such effective date.
