Bill Text: NY A04987 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to voting and registration for voting by convicted felons.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 33-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to election law [A04987 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A04987-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4987
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 6, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL, WALKER, BLAKE, WEPRIN, CARROLL, ORTIZ,
          D'URSO,  JEAN-PIERRE  -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. LENTOL -- read
          once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
        AN ACT to amend the election law, the criminal  procedure  law  and  the
          correction law, in relation to voting by convicted felons
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 5-106  of  the  election  law,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  373  of  the  laws  of 1978, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    2. No person who has been convicted of a felony  and  sentenced  to  a
     5  period  of  imprisonment  for  such  felony pursuant to the laws of this
     6  state, shall have the right to register for  or  vote  at  any  election
     7  [unless  he  shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of citi-
     8  zenship by the governor, or his maximum  sentence  of  imprisonment  has
     9  expired,  or  he has been discharged from parole. The governor, however,
    10  may attach as a condition to any such pardon a provision that  any  such
    11  person  shall  not  have  the right of suffrage until it shall have been
    12  separately restored to him] while he or she  is  incarcerated  for  such
    13  felony.
    14    §  2. Subdivision 3 of section 5-106 of the election law is amended to
    15  read as follows:
    16    3. No person who has been convicted in a federal court, of  a  felony,
    17  or  a crime or offense which would constitute a felony under the laws of
    18  this state, and sentenced to a period of imprisonment for  such  felony,
    19  shall  have the right to register for or vote at any election [unless he
    20  shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of citizenship by the
    21  president of the United States, or his maximum sentence of  imprisonment
    22  has  expired,  or he has been discharged from parole] while he or she is
    23  incarcerated for such felony.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02910-02-9
        A. 4987                             2
     1    § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 5-106 of the election law is amended  to
     2  read as follows:
     3    4.  No  person  who has been convicted in another state for a crime or
     4  offense which would constitute a felony under the laws of this state and
     5  sentenced to a period of imprisonment for such felony,  shall  have  the
     6  right  to  register for or vote at any election in this state [unless he
     7  shall have been pardoned or restored to the rights of citizenship by the
     8  governor or other appropriate authority of  such  other  state,  or  his
     9  maximum  sentence  has  expired,  or he has been discharged from parole]
    10  while he or she is incarcerated for such felony.
    11    § 4. Section 220.50 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding
    12  a new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
    13    8. Prior to accepting a defendant's plea  of  guilty  to  a  count  or
    14  counts of an indictment or a superior court information charging a felo-
    15  ny  offense,  the  court  must  advise  the defendant on the record that
    16  conviction will result in loss of the right to vote while the  defendant
    17  is  serving  a  felony  sentence in a correctional facility and that the
    18  right to vote will be restored upon the defendant's release.
    19    § 5. Section 380.50 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding
    20  a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
    21    7.  Before  imposing  a  sentence  of  incarceration  for   a   felony
    22  conviction,  the  court  must  advise  the  defendant on the record that
    23  conviction will result in the loss of the right to vote while the  indi-
    24  vidual  is serving a felony sentence in a correctional facility and that
    25  the right to vote will be restored upon the defendant's release.
    26    § 6. Section 75 of the correction law, as amended  by  section  18  of
    27  subpart  A  of  part  C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
    28  read as follows:
    29    § 75. Notice of voting rights. [Upon] Prior to the [discharge] release
    30  from a correctional facility of any person [whose  maximum  sentence  of
    31  imprisonment  has  expired  or  upon a person's discharge from community
    32  supervision,] the department shall notify such person  [of  his  or  her
    33  right  to  vote]  verbally and in writing, that his or her voting rights
    34  will be restored upon release and provide such person  with  a  form  of
    35  application  for  voter  registration  [together with] and a declination
    36  form, offer such person assistance in filling out the appropriate  form,
    37  and  provide such person written information distributed by the board of
    38  elections on the importance and the mechanics  of  voting.  Unless  such
    39  person  refuses, the department shall transmit the completed application
    40  upon such person's release to the state board or local board where  such
    41  person resides.
    42    § 7. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 510 to read
    43  as follows:
    44    §  510. Voting upon release. Prior to the release from a local correc-
    45  tional facility of any person convicted of a felony the  chief  adminis-
    46  trative  officer  shall  notify such person verbally and in writing that
    47  his or her voting rights will be restored upon release and provide  such
    48  person  with a form of application for voter registration and a declina-
    49  tion form, offer such person assistance in filling out  the  appropriate
    50  form,  and  provide  such  person written information distributed by the
    51  board of elections on the importance and the mechanics of voting. Unless
    52  such person refuses, the chief administrative officer shall transmit the
    53  completed application upon such person's release to the state  board  or
    54  local board where such person resides.
    55    § 8. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 209 to read
    56  as follows:
        A. 4987                             3
     1    §  209.  Notice  of  voting  rights.  The department shall notify each
     2  person serving a period of community supervision of his or her right  to
     3  vote and provide such person with a form of application for voter regis-
     4  tration  and a declination form, offer such person assistance in filling
     5  out  the  appropriate  form, and provide such person written information
     6  distributed by the board of elections on the importance and the  mechan-
     7  ics of voting. Unless such person refuses, the department shall transmit
     8  the  completed  application to the state board or local board where such
     9  person resides.
    10    § 9. Section 3-102 of the election law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
    11  subdivision 16-b to read as follows:
    12    16-b.  Develop  and  implement a program to educate attorneys, judges,
    13  election  officials,  corrections  officials,   including   parole   and
    14  probation officers, and members of the public regarding the requirements
    15  of  the  chapter  of  the laws of two thousand nineteen which added this
    16  subdivision.
    17    § 10. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however,  that
    18  sections  four,  five, six, seven, eight and nine of this act shall take
    19  effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it  shall  have  become  a
    20  law.