S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  3234--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 2, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Election Law -- committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
   reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend the election law, in relation to permitting voting at
   any polling place within the same county

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The election law is amended by adding a new section 8-107
 to read as follows:
   § 8-107. CHOICE OF POLLING PLACE. ANY VOTER REGISTERED TO VOTE IN  ANY
 ELECTION  DISTRICT WITHIN A COUNTY OUTSIDE THE CITY OF NEW YORK SHALL BE
 ENTITLED TO VOTE AT ANY POLLING PLACE  WITHIN  THAT  COUNTY.  ANY  VOTER
 REGISTERED  TO VOTE IN ANY ELECTION DISTRICT WITHIN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
 SHALL BE ENTITLED TO VOTE AT ANY POLLING PLACE WITHIN THE  CITY  OF  NEW
 YORK. EACH BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL ENSURE THAT EACH POLLING PLACE WITH-
 IN  ITS  JURISDICTION SHALL BE EQUIPPED TO PRINT BALLOTS ON DEMAND.  THE
 STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL PROMULGATE  REGULATIONS  TO  ENSURE  THAT
 AUDITING  AND  RECANVASSING  OF  VOTES  SHALL  REMAIN  SIMPLE, ACCURATE,
 AFFORDABLE, AND SECURE, INCLUDING  BY  REQUIRING  MARKS  ON  BALLOTS  TO
 DETERMINE  THE  RELEVANT ELECTION DISTRICT SO BALLOTS CAN BE QUICKLY AND
 EASILY SORTED BY ELECTION DISTRICT.  NOTHING IN THIS  SECTION  SHALL  BE
 READ  TO  PERMIT  A  BOARD  OF ELECTIONS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF POLLING
 PLACES BELOW EXISTING REQUIREMENTS, AND  EACH  ELECTION  DISTRICT  SHALL
 HAVE  A  POLLING  PLACE  AT WHICH PREPRINTED BALLOTS SHALL BE AVAILABLE,
 WHICH SHALL BE DEEMED THE POLLING PLACE FOR SUCH ELECTION DISTRICT.
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 8-600 of the election law, as  added  by
 chapter 6 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Any  voter  REGISTERED IN AN ELECTION DISTRICT OUTSIDE THE CITY OF
 NEW YORK may vote at any polling  place  for  early  voting  established
 pursuant  to  subdivision  two  of this section in the county where such
 voter is registered to vote[; provided, however, if it is impractical to

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04319-04-3
              

 A. 3234--A                          2

 provide each polling place for early voting all of the election district
 ballots or if early voting at any such polling place makes ensuring that
 no voter has not previously voted early during such election, the  board
 of  elections may assign election districts to a particular early voting
 poll site]. ANY VOTER REGISTERED IN AN ELECTION DISTRICT WITHIN THE CITY
 OF NEW YORK MAY VOTE AT ANY POLLING PLACE FOR EARLY  VOTING  ESTABLISHED
 PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. All
 voters  in  each  county  shall have one or more polling places at which
 they are eligible to vote  throughout  the  early  voting  period  on  a
 substantially  equal basis. [If the board of elections does not agree by
 majority vote to plan to assign election districts to early voting  poll
 sites,  all  voters  in the county must be able to vote at any poll site
 for early voting in the county.]
   § 3. Section 4-132 of the election law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
 subdivision e to read as follows:
   E.  ON DEMAND BALLOT PRINTERS FOR INDIVIDUALS ENTITLED TO VOTE IN SUCH
 POLLING PLACE WHERE BALLOTS FOR SUCH INDIVIDUAL'S ELECTION DISTRICT  ARE
 NOT  AVAILABLE IN PRE-PRINTED FORMAT. BALLOT PRINTERS MUST BE MAINTAINED
 AND SERVICED PRIOR TO EACH  ELECTION.  PAPERWORK  MUST  BE  CREATED  AND
 SIGNED BY THE COMMISSIONERS THAT EACH BALLOT PRINTER THAT IS INTENDED TO
 BE  PUT  INTO  USE  IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION HAS BEEN SERVICED AND IS IN
 GOOD WORKING CONDITION.
   § 4. Subdivision 9 of section 5-210 of the election law, as amended by
 chapter 44 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   9. The county board of elections shall, promptly and in any event, not
 later than twenty-one days after receipt by it of the application, veri-
 fy the identity of the applicant. In order to do so, the county board of
 elections shall utilize the information provided in the application  and
 shall  attempt  to verify such information with the information provided
 by the department of motor vehicles, social security administration  and
 any  other  lawful  available information source. If the county board of
 elections is unable to verify the identity of the applicant within twen-
 ty-one days of the receipt of the application, it shall immediately take
 steps to confirm that the information  provided  by  the  applicant  was
 accurately  utilized  by  such county board of elections, was accurately
 verified with other information sources and that no data entry error, or
 other similar type of  error,  occurred.  Following  completion  of  the
 preceding  steps,  the county board of elections shall mail (a) a notice
 of its approval, (b) a notice of its approval which  includes  an  indi-
 cation  that  such board has not yet been able to verify the identity of
 the applicant and a request for more information so that such  verifica-
 tion  may be completed, or (c) a notice of its rejection of the applica-
 tion to the  applicant  in  a  form  approved  by  the  state  board  of
 elections.  Notices  of  approval, notices of approval with requests for
 more information or notices of rejection shall be sent by nonforwardable
 first class or return postage guaranteed mail on which is endorsed  such
 language  designated  by  the  state board of elections to ensure postal
 authorities do not forward such mail but  return  it  to  the  board  of
 elections  with  forwarding  information, when it cannot be delivered as
 addressed and which contains a request that any such mail  received  for
 persons  not  residing  at  the address be dropped back in the mail. The
 voter's registration and enrollment shall be complete  upon  receipt  of
 the  application by the appropriate county board of elections. The fail-
 ure of a county board of elections to  verify  an  applicant's  identity
 shall  not  be  the  basis  for  the rejection of a voter's application,
 provided, however, that such verification failure shall be the basis for
 A. 3234--A                          3
 
 requiring county board of elections to take the additional  verification
 steps  provided by this chapter. The notice shall also advise the regis-
 trant of the date when his OR HER registration and enrollment is  effec-
 tive,  of the date and the hours of the next regularly scheduled primary
 or general election in which he OR SHE will be eligible to vote, of  the
 location  of  the  polling  [place]  PLACES of the election district AND
 COUNTY in which he OR SHE is or  will  be  a  qualified  voter,  OF  THE
 LOCATION  OF  THE  POLLING  PLACE OF THE ELECTION DISTRICT AND COUNTY IN
 WHICH PREPRINTED BALLOTS SHALL BE AVAILABLE, whether such polling [place
 is] PLACES ARE accessible to physically  handicapped  voters,  an  indi-
 cation  that  physically  handicapped  voters  or  voters who are ill or
 voters who will be out of the city or county on the day of  the  primary
 or  general election, may obtain an absentee ballot and the phone number
 to call for absentee ballot applications, the phone numbers to call  for
 location  of  polling places, to obtain registration forms and the phone
 number to call to indicate  that  the  voter  is  willing  to  serve  on
 election  day  as an inspector, poll clerk or interpreter. The notice of
 approval, notice of approval with request for more information or notice
 of rejection shall also advise the applicant  to  notify  the  board  of
 elections if there is any inaccuracy. The form of such mail notification
 shall  be  prescribed  by the state board of elections and shall contain
 such other information and instructions as it may reasonably require  to
 carry out the purposes of this section. The request for more information
 shall  inform  the  voter  that  "THE  FAILURE  TO  CONTACT THE BOARD OF
 ELECTIONS AND CORRECT ANY INACCURACIES IN  THE  APPLICATION  OR  PROVIDE
 REQUESTED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY RESULT IN A REQUEST FOR IDENTIFICA-
 TION  AT THE POLLS IN ORDER TO CAST A VOTE ON A VOTING MACHINE." If such
 notice is returned undelivered without a new address,  the  board  shall
 forthwith  send  such  applicant  a  confirmation notice pursuant to the
 provisions of section 5-712 of this article and place such applicant  in
 inactive  status.  The  state  board  of elections shall prepare uniform
 notices by this section as provided for in subdivision eight of  section
 3-102 of this chapter.
   §  5. Subdivision 1 of section 5-226 of the election law is amended to
 read as follows:
   1. If any voter has been registered in a wrong election district,  the
 board  of  elections  shall,  if  he  OR SHE is a qualified voter in any
 election district within the jurisdiction of such board, change  his  OR
 HER  registration  to  the  correct  election  district.  The  board  of
 elections shall thereupon give immediate notice by mail  to  such  voter
 that  his  OR HER registration has been corrected, and also the location
 of the polling [place] PLACES of the election district in  which  he  OR
 SHE is a qualified voter.
   § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 5-500 of the election law, as amended by
 chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  There  shall  be  two  records  of the registration of each voter.
 Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, one record shall be  sent,
 at  the  time of every election, to the polling [place] PLACES where the
 voter is entitled to vote, and shall be known as the "registration  poll
 record".  Between  elections  it  shall  be kept in the main office or a
 branch office of the board of elections. The other record shall be  kept
 constantly  in  such  main office or branch office and shall be known as
 the "central file registration record". The two types of  records  shall
 be prepared in different colors.
   § 7. Subdivision 1 of section 5-601 of the election law, as amended by
 chapter 599 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
 A. 3234--A                          4
 
   1.  [A  physically  disabled voter whose polling place is located in a
 building that is not accessible shall be entitled to vote in  any  other
 election  district whose polling place is located in a building which is
 accessible, provided that the candidates and  ballot  proposals  on  the
 ballot  in  such  other  election  district are the same as those on the
 ballot in the election district in which such voter resides.] EACH POLL-
 ING PLACE SHALL BE ACCESSIBLE.
   § 8. Subdivision 6 of section 7-122 of the election law, as amended by
 chapter 411 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   6. On the reverse side of such inner  affirmation  envelope  shall  be
 printed the following statement:
                                AFFIRMATION
   I  do declare that I am a citizen of the United States, that I am duly
 registered in the election district shown on the reverse  side  of  this
 envelope  and  I  am  qualified to vote in such district; that I will be
 unable to appear personally on the day of the election  for  which  this
 ballot  is  voted  at  [the] A polling place of the election district in
 which I am a qualified voter because of the reason given on my  applica-
 tion  heretofore submitted; that I have not qualified nor do I intend to
 vote elsewhere, that I have not committed any act nor  am  I  under  any
 impediment which denies me the right to vote.
   I hereby declare that the foregoing is a true statement to the best of
 my  knowledge  and  belief, and I understand that if I make any material
 false statement in the foregoing statement of absentee voter, I shall be
 guilty of a misdemeanor.
 
 Date.................20.....       .....................................
                                    Signature or mark of voter
 
                                    .....................................
                                    Signature of Witness (required only
                                    if voter does not sign his or her own
                                    name)
 
                                    .....................................
                                    Address of Witness
 
   § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 8-100 of the election law is amended  to
 read as follows:
   3.  In any election district in which a primary of any party is uncon-
 tested, no primary of such party shall be held. In any election district
 in which the primaries of all parties are uncontested on the day of  any
 primary  election, no primaries shall be held on such day [and the poll-
 ing place shall not be opened for voting].
   § 10. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.