S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9270
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 8, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  KAVANAGH  --  (at  request  of  the State Board of
   Elections) -- 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 term paper ballot
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 4-117  of  the  election  law,  as
 amended by chapter 481 of the laws of 2023, is amended as follows:
   1.  The board of elections, between the third Tuesday in April and the
 second Friday in May in each year,  shall  send  by  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 deliv-
 ered  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,  a  communication,  in  a  form  approved  by  the  state board of
 elections, to every registered voter who has been registered  without  a
 change  of  address  since  the  beginning of such year, except that the
 board of elections shall not be required to send such communications  to
 voters  in  inactive status. The communication shall notify the voter in
 bold print contained in such notice of the days and hours of the ensuing
 primary and general elections, the place where [he or  she]  SUCH  VOTER
 appears by [his or her] SUCH VOTER'S registration records to be entitled
 to  vote,  and  also in other than bold type of the fact that voters who
 have moved or will have moved from the  address  where  they  were  last
 registered  must  either  notify  the board of elections of [his or her]
 SUCH VOTER'S new address or vote by  [paper]  AFFIDAVIT  ballot  at  the
 polling  place  for  [his  or her] SUCH VOTER'S new address even if such
 voter  has  not  re-registered,  or  otherwise  notified  the  board  of
 elections  of  the change of address. If the primary will not be held on
 the first Tuesday after the second Monday  in  September,  the  communi-
 cation  shall  contain  a  conspicuous notice in all capital letters and
 bold font notifying the voter of the primary date. If  the  location  of
 the  polling place for the voter's election district has been moved, the
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD15511-01-4
 S. 9270                             2
 
 communication shall contain the following legend  in  bold  type:  "YOUR
 POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN CHANGED. YOU NOW VOTE AT..........". The communi-
 cation  shall  indicate that any registered voter may vote early by mail
 by  applying for an early mail ballot, and provide information on how to
 apply for an early mail ballot. The communication  shall  also  indicate
 whether  the  polling place is accessible to physically disabled voters,
 that a voter who will be out of the city or county on  the  day  of  the
 primary or general election or a voter who is ill or physically disabled
 may  obtain  an  absentee ballot, that a physically disabled voter whose
 polling place is not accessible may  request  that  [his]  SUCH  VOTER'S
 registration record be moved to an election district which has a polling
 place  which is accessible, the phone number to call for applications to
 move a registration record or for early mail or absentee ballot applica-
 tions, the phone number to call for the  location  of  registration  and
 polling  places,  the phone number to call to indicate that the voter is
 willing to serve on election day as an election inspector,  poll  clerk,
 interpreter  or  in other capacities, the phone number to call to obtain
 an application for registration by  mail,  and  such  other  information
 concerning  the  elections  or registration as the board may include. In
 lieu of sending such communication to every registered voter, the  board
 of  elections  may send a single communication to a household containing
 more than one registered voter, provided that  the  names  of  all  such
 voters appear as part of the address on such communication.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.