Bill Text: NY A00155 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to requests for cancellation of the designation of a polling place; provides that the board or agency controlling a designated polling place may file a written request for a cancellation of such designation where there has been a security concern in such building and that such building does not possess the proper structure or procedures to keep the public safe in the event of a security concern arising during the use of such building as a polling site.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to election law [A00155 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A00155-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           155
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. D'URSO, THIELE, SANTABARBARA, ORTIZ, RAIA, RA,
          LAWRENCE, BRABENEC -- read once  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on
          Election Law
        AN  ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requests for cancella-
          tion of the designation of a polling place
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  3  of  section 4-104 of the election law, as
     2  amended by chapter 694 of the laws  of  1989,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    3. (a) A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible
     5  as  a  polling  place  if  it  is  situated  in the same or a contiguous
     6  election district, and may contain as many distinctly  separate  polling
     7  places  as  public  convenience  may require. The expense, if any, inci-
     8  dental to its use, shall be paid like the expense  of  other  places  of
     9  registration and voting. If a board or body empowered to designate poll-
    10  ing  places chooses a public school building for such purpose, the board
    11  or agency which controls such building must make  available  a  room  or
    12  rooms  in  such  building which are suitable for registration and voting
    13  and which are as close as possible to  a  convenient  entrance  to  such
    14  building  and must make available any such room or rooms which the board
    15  or body designating such building determines  are  accessible  to  phys-
    16  ically disabled voters as provided in subdivision one-a of this section.
    17  Not  later  than  twenty  days  after  a public school building receives
    18  notice of its designation as  a  polling  place,  the  board  or  agency
    19  controlling  such building may file a written request for a cancellation
    20  of such designation, provided that such board or agency makes a  showing
    21  that  such  building does not possess the proper structure or procedures
    22  to keep the public safe in the  event  of  a  security  concern  arising
    23  during  the  use  of  such building as a polling site. The board or body
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00693-01-9

        A. 155                              2
     1  empowered to so designate shall, within twenty days after  such  request
     2  is filed, cancel the designation of such polling site.
     3    (b)  Notwithstanding  the  provisions of any general, special or local
     4  law, if a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses  a
     5  publicly  owned or leased building, other than a public school building,
     6  for such purposes the board or body which controls  such  building  must
     7  make  available  a room or rooms in such building which are suitable for
     8  registration and voting and which are as close as possible to a  conven-
     9  ient entrance to such building, and must make available any such room or
    10  rooms  which  the board or body designating such building determines are
    11  accessible to physically disabled voters unless, not later  than  thirty
    12  days  after  notice  of its designation as a polling place, the board or
    13  body controlling such building, files a written request for a  cancella-
    14  tion  of  such designation with the board or body empowered to designate
    15  polling places on such form as shall be provided by the  board  or  body
    16  making  such  designation.  The  board or body empowered to so designate
    17  shall, within twenty days after such request is filed, determine whether
    18  the use of such building as a polling place would unreasonably interfere
    19  with the usual activities conducted  in  such  building  and  upon  such
    20  determination, may cancel such designation.
    21    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    22  have become a law.
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