Bill Text: NY S00660 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Lowers the voting age to 16 years; requires that students receive education in civics and be given the opportunity to register to vote in the classroom.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS [S00660 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00660-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           660

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 5, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. HOYLMAN, BAILEY, COMRIE, PARKER, RIVERA, 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 the qualifications of
          voters; and to amend the education law, in relation to civic education
          and student voter registration

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

     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section  5-102 of the election law is
     2  amended to read as follows:
     3    1. No person shall be qualified  to  register  for  and  vote  at  any
     4  election  unless  [he] such person is a citizen of the United States and
     5  is or will be, on the day of such election, [eighteen] sixteen years  of
     6  age  or  over,  and  a resident of this state and of the county, city or
     7  village for a minimum of thirty days next preceding such election.
     8    § 2. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of  the  election
     9  law,  as amended by chapter 2 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
    10  follows:
    11    (g) Notice that the applicant must be a citizen of the United  States,
    12  is  or  will  be  at  least sixteen years old [when he or she submits an
    13  application to register to vote which will be  effective  for  elections
    14  occurring  on  or  after  the applicant turns eighteen years of age] not
    15  later than December thirty-first of the calendar year in which he or she
    16  registers and a resident of the county or city to which  application  is
    17  made.
    18    § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 8-504 of the election law, as renumbered
    19  by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
    20    3.  After  receiving the answers as above specified, of any applicant,
    21  the board shall, if it believes the applicant to  be  qualified  or  the
    22  challenge  is withdrawn, permit him or her to vote. Otherwise, the board
    23  shall point out to him or her the qualifications, if any, in respect  of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00545-01-3
        S. 660                              2

     1  which he or she shall appear deficient. If, after such deficiencies have
     2  been  so  indicated,  the applicant shall persist in his or her claim to
     3  vote, an inspector shall administer to him or her  the  following  oath,
     4  which  shall  be  known  as  "The Qualification Oath": "You do swear (or
     5  affirm) that you are [eighteen] sixteen years of age,  that  you  are  a
     6  citizen  of  the United States and that you have been a resident of this
     7  state, and of this county (of the city of New York) (village) for thirty
     8  days next preceding this election, that you still  reside  at  the  same
     9  address  from  which  you  have  been  duly  registered in this election
    10  district, that you have not voted at this election, and that you do  not
    11  know  of  any reason why you are not qualified to vote at this election.
    12  You do further declare that you are aware that it is a crime to make any
    13  false statement. That all the statements you have made to the board have
    14  been true and that you understand that a false statement is perjury  and
    15  you will be guilty of a misdemeanor."
    16    §  4. Subdivision 1 of section 801 of the education law, as amended by
    17  section 27 of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, is amended and a
    18  new subdivision 6 is added to read as follows:
    19    1. In order to promote a spirit of patriotic  and  civic  service  and
    20  obligation  and  to foster in the children of the state moral and intel-
    21  lectual qualities which are essential in preparing  to  meet  the  obli-
    22  gations of citizenship in peace or in war, the regents of The University
    23  of  the  State  of  New  York  shall prescribe courses of instruction in
    24  patriotism, citizenship, civic education and values, our shared  history
    25  of diversity, the role of religious tolerance in this country, and human
    26  rights  issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity
    27  of genocide, slavery (including the freedom trail and underground  rail-
    28  road),  the  Holocaust,  and the mass starvation in Ireland from 1845 to
    29  1850, to be maintained and followed in all the schools of the state. The
    30  boards of education and  trustees  of  the  several  cities  and  school
    31  districts  of  the  state  shall require instruction to be given in such
    32  courses, by the teachers employed in the  schools  therein.  All  pupils
    33  attending  such  schools, over the age of eight years, shall attend upon
    34  such instruction. All pupils  in  the  ninth  and  higher  grades  shall
    35  receive  civic  education  for  at  least  eight  full class periods, in
    36  accordance with the department's 9-12 social studies framework.
    37    Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and  maintained  in
    38  private  schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools over eight
    39  years of age shall attend upon such courses. If such courses are not  so
    40  established and maintained in a private school, attendance upon instruc-
    41  tion  in  such  school  shall  not be deemed substantially equivalent to
    42  instruction given to pupils of like age in the  public  schools  of  the
    43  city or district in which such pupils reside.
    44     6.  a.  The  regents,  in  collaboration  with  the  state  board  of
    45  elections, shall make available to each high  school  two  forms  to  be
    46  distributed to all pupils who shall be sixteen years of age on or before
    47  December  thirty-first  of each year. Such forms shall be distributed on
    48  one date between the second and fifth school day in the month of January
    49  of each year.
    50    b. The first form to be distributed pursuant to this subdivision shall
    51  be a standard voter registration form as prescribed by section 5-210  of
    52  the  election law. Such form shall be completed for each eligible pupil,
    53  by school administrators who shall complete each field of the  registra-
    54  tion  form  except  the  fields  pertaining to citizenship status, party
    55  affiliation, signature and date. The content of  the  registration  form
    56  shall  be  explained  to  all  pupils  to whom forms are distributed and
        S. 660                              3

     1  pupils shall be directed to correct any incorrect information previously
     2  completed by school administrators.
     3    c.  The  second  form  to  be distributed pursuant to this subdivision
     4  shall be entitled "Voter Registration Opt-Out Form"  and  shall  contain
     5  the  following  statement: "I, the undersigned, decline to register as a
     6  voter in the State of New York at this time,  and  defer  my  choice  of
     7  registration  in the State of New York to a future date of my choosing."
     8  Such form shall be created by the  regents  in  collaboration  with  the
     9  state board of elections.
    10    d.  Pupils  shall  be  given classroom time to have the opportunity to
    11  complete either the standard voter registration form or the voter regis-
    12  tration opt-out form. After pupils have had time to complete both forms,
    13  school administrators shall collect both forms from all pupils  to  whom
    14  the  forms were distributed.  School administrators shall be required to
    15  dispose of all voter registration forms for  pupils  who  elect  to  not
    16  register to vote.
    17    §  5.  This  act  shall  take  effect on the same date as a concurrent
    18  resolution amending the constitution, entitled "CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF
    19  THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing amendments to section 1 of  article  2
    20  of  the constitution, in relation to the voting age"; provided, however,
    21  that the amendments made to paragraph (g) of subdivision  5  of  section
    22  5-210  of  the  election law made by section two of this act, shall take
    23  effect immediately.