Bill Text: NY A04187 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires voting machines or systems approved by the state board of elections to: permit a voter to review their marked paper ballot; retain such ballot for the purposes of a manual audit; and count only a voter's handmade mark except when certain accessibility exceptions apply.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to election law [A04187 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A04187-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4187

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 1, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Election Law

        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requirements for voting
          machines or systems; and to repeal  certain  provisions  of  such  law
          relating thereto

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Paragraphs e, j, s and t of subdivision 1 of section  7-202
     2  of  the  election  law, as added by chapter 181 of the laws of 2005, are
     3  amended and two new paragraphs u and v are added to read as follows:
     4    e. provide the voter an opportunity  to  privately  and  independently
     5  review  and verify [votes selected] such voter's marked paper ballot and
     6  the ability to privately and independently change such votes or  correct
     7  any error before the ballot is cast and counted;
     8    j.  retain all paper ballots cast [or produce and retain a voter veri-
     9  fied permanent paper record which shall be presented to the  voter  from
    10  behind  a window or other device before the ballot is cast,] in a manner
    11  intended and designed to protect the privacy of the voter; such  ballots
    12  [or record] shall allow a manual audit and shall be preserved in accord-
    13  ance with the provisions of section 3-222 of this chapter;
    14    s.  permit alternative language accessibility pursuant to the require-
    15  ments of section 203 of  the  Voting  Rights  Act  of  1965  (42  U.S.C.
    16  1973aa-1a)  such  that  it  must  have  the capacity to display the full
    17  ballot in the alternative  languages  required  by  the  federal  Voting
    18  Rights  Act  if  such  voting machine or system is to be used where such
    19  alternative languages are required or where the local board  deems  such
    20  feature necessary; [and]
    21    t.  not  include  any  device  or functionality potentially capable of
    22  externally transmitting or receiving data via the internet or via  radio
    23  waves or via other wireless means[.];

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06174-01-1
        A. 4187                             2

     1    u.  count only a voter's handmade mark except when necessary to comply
     2  with subdivision two of this section and shall not utilize bar  code  or
     3  matrix code for the process of vote casting and canvassing; and
     4    v.  meets  the  United  States  election  assistance commission's most
     5  recently adopted voluntary voting systems guidelines.
     6    § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 7-202 of the election law, as  added  by
     7  chapter 181 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
     8    4.  Local boards of elections which obtain voting machines pursuant to
     9  this chapter [may determine to] shall purchase [direct  recording  elec-
    10  tronic  machines  or]  optical  scan  machines  in  conformance with the
    11  requirements of this chapter.
    12    § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 7-201 of the election law is REPEALED.
    13    § 4. Section 7-203 of the election law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
    14  subdivision 5 to read as follows:
    15    5.  Local  boards  of  elections  shall  not provide for more than one
    16  ballot marking device that produces electronically generated ballots  in
    17  a  polling  location  except  when the local board determines that addi-
    18  tional machines are needed to accommodate the needs of individuals  with
    19  disabilities.
    20    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.