Bill Text: NY S01590 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the state board of elections to create a system to allow a copy of the candidate and contest information contained on each ballot style submitted by each county board of elections to be accessible to the public via web.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-24 - signed chap.410 [S01590 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S01590-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          1590
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 15, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sens. SANDERS, BAILEY, BROOKS, KRUEGER, ORTT, SEPULVEDA --
          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 requiring  the  posting
          of sample ballots on a board of elections website
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 7-118 of the election law, as  amended  by  chapter
     2  157 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §  7-118.  Ballots; facsimile and sample. The board of elections shall
     4  provide facsimile and sample ballots which shall be arranged in the form
     5  of a diagram showing such part of the face  of  the  voting  machine  as
     6  shall  be  in  use at that election.   Such facsimile and sample ballots
     7  shall be either in full or  reduced  size  and  shall  contain  suitable
     8  illustrated  directions for voting on the voting machine. Such facsimile
     9  ballots shall be mounted and displayed for  public  inspection  at  each
    10  polling  place  during election day. Sample ballots may be mailed by the
    11  board of elections to each eligible voter at least three days before the
    12  election, or in lieu thereof, a  copy  of  such  sample  ballot  may  be
    13  published  at least once within one week preceding the election in news-
    14  papers representing the major political parties.  Each county  board  of
    15  elections  shall transmit electronically in a format to be determined by
    16  the state board of elections, as it is available, a copy of  the  candi-
    17  date  and  contest information contained on each of its ballot styles to
    18  the state board of elections. The state board shall create a  system  to
    19  allow such information to be made publicly available via its website, as
    20  well  as the website of any county board of elections, and in such a way
    21  as to be accessible with a computer screen-reading program. One copy  of
    22  such facsimile shall be sent to each school in the county, providing the
    23  ninth through the twelfth years of compulsory education, and in the city
    24  of  New  York  to each such school in the city of New York, at least one
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00515-01-9
        S. 1590                             2
     1  week before each general election for posting at a convenient  place  in
     2  such  school.  The board of elections shall also send a facsimile ballot
     3  to any other school requesting such a ballot.
     4    § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2021.