NY State Senate Bill 2023-S482

Senate Bill S482

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Authorizes United States citizens currently residing outside the United States whose last residence was in NY to vote in certain federal elections

download bill text pdf

Current 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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to elections
Jan 04, 2023	referred to elections

2023-S482 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A2819
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §11-200, El L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S7452, A9709

2023-S482 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes United States citizens currently residing outside the United States whose last residence in the United States was in the state of New York to vote in certain federal elections.

2023-S482 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S482

SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to authorizing United
States citizens currently residing outside the United States whose last
residence in the United States was in the state of New York to vote in
certain federal elections

 
PURPOSE OF BILL:

This bill would allow voters whose previous residence was in New York
State to vote via absentee ballot in a Federal Election if they reside
in a United States Territory or United States Possession.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 11-200 of the election law by removing the
provision that prohibited a citizen who otherwise qualified to vote via
absentee ballot from voting if they reside in a United States Territory
or Possession.

Section 2 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

United States citizens who are former residents of New York may vote in
New York as special federal voters via absentee ballot for President,
Vice President, for their Congressperson or Senator if they reside
outside of the United States. However, the existing statute contains a
specific exception if the voter resides in a United States "territory"
or "possession", such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, or
American Samoa. So, a former eligible New York voter who moves to France
can vote via New York absentee ballot in certain federal elections,
whereas a former eligible New York voter who moves, for example, to
Puerto Rico cannot. This has led to the disenfranchisement of countless
New Yorkers - who would otherwise qualify to vote by absentee ballot as
they are prevented from exercising their constitutionally protected
right to vote in a federal election.

2023-S482 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    482
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 4, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SALAZAR -- 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  authorizing  United
   States  citizens  currently  residing  outside the United States whose
   last residence in the United States was in the state of  New  York  to
   vote in certain federal elections
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 11-200 of  the  election  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  99  of  the  laws  of  1989, is amended to read as
 follows:
   1. Every citizen of the United States now residing outside the  United
 States whose last domicile in the United States immediately prior to his
 departure  from the United States was in the state of New York, shall be
 entitled to vote from such last domicile, as a special federal voter  in
 all  primary,  special  and  general elections for the public offices or
 party positions of president and vice-president of  the  United  States,
 United  States  senator,  representative  in  congress and delegates and
 alternate delegates to a national convention, provided such citizen,  at
 the  time  of  such departure from the United States, could have met all
 the present qualifications of this chapter to vote in federal  elections
 from  such last domicile, except the qualification with respect to mini-
 mum voting age, even though such citizen does not now maintain  a  place
 of abode or domicile in the state of New York, and provided further that
 such  citizen  does  not  maintain  a place of abode or domicile, is not
 registered to vote and is not voting in any other  election  district[,]
 OR  state[,  territory  or possession of the United States] and provided
 further that such citizen has a valid passport or card of  identity  and
 registration issued under the authority of the secretary of state of the
 United States.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00640-01-3

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.