S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4658
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 8, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  PARKER,  BRESLIN,  GAUGHRAN,  GIANARIS, LIU, MAY,
   PERSAUD, STAVISKY -- 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 the boundaries of
   election districts and the designation of polling places

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  4-104 of the election law is amended by adding a
 new subdivision 5-a to read as follows:
   5-A. WHENEVER  A  CONTIGUOUS  PROPERTY  OF  A  COLLEGE  OR  UNIVERSITY
 CONTAINS  THREE  HUNDRED  OR  MORE REGISTRANTS (EXCLUDING REGISTRANTS IN
 INACTIVE STATUS) WHO ARE REGISTERED  TO  VOTE  AT  AN  ADDRESS  ON  SUCH
 CONTIGUOUS  PROPERTY,  THE POLLING PLACE DESIGNATED FOR SUCH REGISTRANTS
 SHALL BE ON SUCH CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY OR AT A LOCATION  APPROVED  BY  THE
 COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.
   §  2.  Paragraph  a  of subdivision 3 of section 4-100 of the election
 law, as amended by chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   a.  Each  election  district  shall  be in compact form and may not be
 partly within and partly without a ward, town, city, a village which has
 five thousand or more inhabitants and is wholly  within  one  town,  THE
 CONTIGUOUS  PROPERTY  OF  A  COLLEGE  OR UNIVERSITY WHICH CONTAINS THREE
 HUNDRED OR MORE REGISTRANTS (EXCLUDING REGISTRANTS IN  INACTIVE  STATUS)
 WHO ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE AT AN ADDRESS ON SUCH CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY, or
 a  county  legislative,  assembly, senatorial or congressional district.
 Except as provided in paragraph b of this subdivision, election district
 boundaries, other than those boundaries which are coterminous  with  the
 boundaries  of  those  political  subdivisions AND COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY
 PROPERTIES mentioned in this paragraph, must be streets,  rivers,  rail-
 road lines or other permanent characteristics of the landscape which are
 clearly  visible  to any person without the need to use any technical or
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD03331-02-1

 S. 4658                             2
 
 mechanical device. An election district shall contain not more than nine
 hundred fifty registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status) or,
 with the approval of the county board of elections, not more than eleven
 hundred  fifty  registrants  (excluding registrants in inactive status),
 but any election district may be divided  for  the  convenience  of  the
 voters.
   §  3.  Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the election
 law, as amended by chapter 344 of the laws of 2020, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   (a)  The  board  of elections shall designate polling places for early
 voting, which may include the offices of the  board  of  elections,  for
 persons  to  vote  early pursuant to this title; provided, however, that
 the municipality with the highest population in each county based on the
 latest federal decennial census shall have at least  one  polling  place
 designated for early voting, and to the extent practicable if such muni-
 cipality  has  public transportation routes, such polling place shall be
 situated along such transportation routes. There shall be so  designated
 at  least  one  early  voting  polling place for every full increment of
 fifty thousand registered voters in each county; provided, however,  the
 number  of early voting polling places in a county shall not be required
 to be greater than ten unless required by any other  provision  of  law,
 and  a  county with fewer than fifty thousand voters shall have at least
 one early voting polling place.   WHENEVER A CONTIGUOUS  PROPERTY  OF  A
 COLLEGE  OR  UNIVERSITY  CONTAINS  THREE  HUNDRED  OR  MORE  REGISTRANTS
 (EXCLUDING REGISTRANTS IN INACTIVE STATUS) WHO ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE AT
 AN ADDRESS ON SUCH CONTIGUOUS PROPERTY, SUCH CONTIGUOUS  PROPERTY  OR  A
 LOCATION APPROVED BY THE COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY SHALL BE DESIGNATED AS AN
 EARLY VOTING POLLING PLACE.
   § 4.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.