Bill Text: NY S02056 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Enacts the "student voter empowerment act"; requires each institution of the state university of New York and the city university of New York to designate a staff member to act as a student voting coordinator; requires such coordinator to develop and implement a student voting action plan to increase student voter registration and voting and democratic participation among students.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-15 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS [S02056 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S02056-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2056 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 15, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. WEBB, MAY -- 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 enacting the "student voter empowerment act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "student voter empowerment act". 3 § 2. Subdivision 18 of section 5-211 of the election law, as amended 4 by chapter 481 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 5 18. (a) [(i)] On or before January first, two thousand twenty, all 6 institutions of the state university of New York and the city university 7 of New York shall create and make available to all students a webpage 8 for voter education on each such institution's website, containing a 9 link to an application for voter registration, a link to an application 10 for an early mail ballot, updated information about the location and 11 hours of the polling place designated for students registered to vote on 12 the contiguous property of the institution, if such polling place exists 13 pursuant to subdivision five-a of section 4-104 of this chapter or as 14 designated by the local board of election, key dates for voting regis- 15 tration, voting times, and absentee voting detailed in the state board 16 of elections political calendar, information about the voting rights of 17 students, contact information for the county board of elections, and the 18 name and contact information for the [administrator responsible for19voter registration assistance] student voting coordinator on each 20 campus. 21 [(ii)] (b) Each such institution shall, at the beginning of the school 22 year, and again in January of a year in which the president of the 23 United States is to be elected, provide an application for voter regis- 24 tration and an application for an early mail ballot to each student in 25 each such institution. Each institution shall be considered in compli- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03341-01-5S. 2056 2 1 ance with the requirements of this [subparagraph] paragraph for each 2 student to whom the institution electronically transmits a message 3 containing the link to the webpage for voter education, the link to an 4 application for voter registration and the link to an application for an 5 early mail ballot, if such information is in an electronic message 6 devoted exclusively to voter registration. 7 [(iii)] (c) Each such institution shall provide the same degree of 8 assistance as required of participating agencies. 9 [(b)] 19. (a) Each institution within the state university of New York 10 and the city university of New York shall designate a staff member to 11 act as a student voting coordinator. The student voting coordinator 12 shall develop and implement a student voting action plan to increase 13 student voter registration and voting and democratic participation among 14 students. Such student voting action plan shall cover the two year 15 period immediately preceding each statewide general election, provided 16 however that the action plan following the effective date of the chapter 17 of the laws of two thousand twenty-five that amended this subdivision 18 shall cover the period after such effective date, and shall be updated 19 after each statewide general election. 20 (b) The student voting action plan shall include: 21 (i) A minimum of three election outreach events to increase democratic 22 participation and student voting during an academic year, including at 23 least one event during the forty-five days preceding a general or prima- 24 ry election. At least one event shall be held in-person. Such events 25 shall be open for all students to attend, and may be sponsored by 26 student organizations, provided they maintain requirements in paragraph 27 (c) of this subdivision. 28 (ii) Provision of informational materials on voting and voter regis- 29 tration, including but not limited to application and online application 30 for voter registration as required in subdivision eighteen of this 31 section, in central locations and high-traffic areas on campus, includ- 32 ing during orientation events for new students and during course regis- 33 tration processes, and in electronic messages, social media platforms, 34 and text messages to cellular phones, to the extent the institution uses 35 such methods to provide information to students. 36 (iii) In consultation with local boards of elections, provision of 37 pre-filled voter registration applications with relevant residential 38 addresses on the contiguous property of the college or university. 39 (iv) Dissemination of information about voter registration and voting 40 opportunities to all students on the website created pursuant to subdi- 41 vision eighteen of this section, including: 42 (A) the dates for early voting and election day voting; 43 (B) the last day for voter registration, enrollment, and change of 44 enrollment; 45 (C) the process to search for a voter's early voting and election day 46 assigned poll sites and voter registration status; 47 (D) the location and hours of the polling place designated for 48 students registered to vote at any address on the contiguous property of 49 the institution, pursuant to subdivision five-a of section 4-104 of this 50 chapter, if such polling place is designated; 51 (E) the process and deadlines for applying for and returning absentee 52 ballots, early mail ballots, and for curing defects in absentee ballots; 53 (F) the option to use students' campus residence address to register 54 to vote;S. 2056 3 1 (G) the protections for the right to vote pursuant to title two of 2 article seventeen of this chapter, the John R. Lewis voting rights act 3 of New York, and the rights of voters with disabilities; and 4 (H) the assistance for language-minority groups as provided by section 5 17-208 of this chapter. 6 (v) Support of student organizations engaged in activities to increase 7 voter registration and voting by students, including but not limited to 8 professional assistance, dissemination of information of activities, or 9 financial support. 10 (vi) A policy allowing a student to be excused from class or absent 11 from a job with the institution for a reasonable period for the purpose 12 of voting on election day, if the student does not have three hours of 13 continuous time out of class or off from a job with the institution 14 during the time the polls are open on election day. 15 (vii) Any other activities to improve access to voting and voter 16 registration for students. 17 (c) The work of the student voting coordinator and the activities in 18 the student voting action plan, including but not limited to outreach 19 events, informational materials, and communications, shall not be 20 conducted for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring particular candi- 21 dates or political parties. 22 (d) The chancellor of the state university of New York and the chan- 23 cellor of the city university of New York shall promulgate rules for the 24 manner of developing the student voting action plan which shall include 25 consultation with staff, faculty members, and student organizations with 26 experience in civic engagement. 27 (e) Each institution within the state university of New York and the 28 city university of New York shall enroll in the National Study for 29 Learning, Voting, and Engagement by the Institute for Democracy and 30 Higher Education at Tufts University. Within thirty days of receiving a 31 report from the National Study for Learning, Voting, and Engagement by 32 the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University, an 33 institution shall send the report to the state board of elections. The 34 state board of elections shall make such reports publicly available on 35 the website. 36 (f) The state university of New York and the city university of New 37 York, on behalf of each institution within its system, shall on or 38 before June first, two thousand twenty, and each subsequent year, submit 39 a report disaggregated according to each institution to the state board 40 of elections that includes: 41 (i) the efforts of the institution to register voters in the preceding 42 calendar year; 43 (ii) a date-stamped screen shot of the webpage for voter education 44 that contains the required information under [paragraph (a) of this] 45 subdivision eighteen of this section; 46 (iii) the number of students who were registered for course work in 47 the preceding twelve months at such institution and the number of clicks 48 on the links to online voter registration and early mail ballot applica- 49 tions; [and] 50 (iv) any other efforts or recommendations the institution plans to 51 implement to improve access to voter registration and early mail ballot 52 voting for students at the institution; and 53 (v) each student voting action plan developed and implemented pursuant 54 to paragraph (b) of this subdivision.S. 2056 4 1 [(c)] (g) The state board of elections shall make the reports provided 2 pursuant to paragraph [(b)] (f) of this subdivision publicly available 3 on its website. 4 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 17-208 of the election 5 law, as added by chapter 226 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as 6 follows: 7 (a) more than two percent, but in no instance fewer than three hundred 8 individuals, of the citizens of voting age of a political subdivision or 9 residents of a college or university are members of a single language- 10 minority group and are limited English proficient. 11 § 4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 12 law; provided, however, that if chapter 226 of the laws of 2022 shall 13 not have taken effect on or before such date then section three of this 14 act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as such 15 chapter of the laws of 2022 takes effect. Effective immediately, any 16 rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act 17 on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or 18 before such date.
