Bill Text: NY A01342 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires each county board of elections to provide at least one pen for every ten registered voters assigned to that polling site.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to election law [A01342 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A01342-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          1342
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 15, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. QUART -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Election Law
        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring  each  county
          board of elections to provide pens at polling sites
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby declares that in
     2  order to have a well-functioning democracy, it is necessary that  boards
     3  of  elections  successfully supply every poll site in the state with the
     4  required materials to conduct an election. Voters whose poll sites  lack
     5  these  basic necessities are, in practice, disenfranchised because their
     6  poll site in unprepared.
     7    The legislature further finds that many poll sites  in  counties  that
     8  use  electronic voting systems require a ballot to be marked using a pen
     9  before being scanned and counted. However, each election  day,  legisla-
    10  tors  hear  complaints  from constituents about poll sites without pens.
    11  When voters arrive at these poll sites to discover  that  the  board  of
    12  elections  has  not provided enough working pens, many are deterred from
    13  voting at all. A lack of the most basic of supplies  at  poll  sites  is
    14  unacceptable.
    15    Clearly, boards of elections are either unable or unwilling to predict
    16  and  provide an adequate supply of working pens for poll sites. Thus, it
    17  falls to the legislature to ensure that boards  of  elections  implement
    18  procedures to ensure that every eligible voter who goes to the polls has
    19  access to the tools needed to cast a ballot.
    20    §  2.  The  election  law is amended by adding a  new section 8-108 to
    21  read as follows:
    22    § 8-108. Supplies requirement. 1. As used in this  section,  the  term
    23  "pen"  shall  mean  an instrument used to apply ink to a surface for the
    24  purpose of writing. To qualify  as  a  pen  for  the  purposes  of  this
    25  section, such instrument must be filled with ink.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01356-01-9
        A. 1342                             2
     1    2.  Each county board of elections shall supply each polling site with
     2  a minimum of one pen for every ten registered voters  assigned  to  that
     3  polling site.
     4    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.