Bill Text: NY A03549 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to ensuring that the notices sent from polling locations is in bold print of at least sixteen point font.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to election law [A03549 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A03549-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3549 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 29, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Election Law AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the font of polling location notices 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 4-117 of the election law, as 2 amended by chapter 3 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows: 3 1. The board of elections, between August first and August fifth of 4 each year, shall send by mail on which is endorsed such language desig- 5 nated by the state board of elections to ensure postal authorities do 6 not forward such mail but return it to the board of elections with 7 forwarding information, when it cannot be delivered as addressed and 8 which contains a request that any such mail received for persons not 9 residing at the address be dropped back in the mail, a communication, in 10 a form approved by the state board of elections, to every registered 11 voter who has been registered without a change of address since the 12 beginning of such year, except that the board of elections shall not be 13 required to send such communications to voters in inactive status. The 14 communication shall notify the voter of the days and hours of the ensu- 15 ing primary and general elections, the place where he appears by his 16 registration records to be entitled to vote, the fact that voters who 17 have moved or will have moved from the address where they were last 18 registered must re-register or, that if such move was to another address 19 in the same county or city, that such voter may either notify the board 20 of elections of his new address or vote by paper ballot at the polling 21 place for his new address even if such voter has not re-registered, or 22 otherwise notified the board of elections of the change of address. If 23 the primary will not be held on the first Tuesday after the second 24 Monday in September, the communication shall contain a conspicuous 25 notice in all capital letters and bold font notifying the voter of the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04007-01-9A. 3549 2 1 primary date. If the location of the polling place for the voter's 2 election district has been moved, the communication shall contain the 3 following legend in bold [type] print of at least sixteen point font: 4 "YOUR POLLING PLACE HAS BEEN CHANGED. YOU NOW VOTE AT..........". The 5 communication shall also indicate whether the polling place is accessi- 6 ble to physically disabled voters, that a voter who will be out of the 7 city or county on the day of the primary or general election or a voter 8 who is ill or physically disabled may obtain an absentee ballot, that a 9 physically disabled voter whose polling place is not accessible may 10 request that his registration record be moved to an election district 11 which has a polling place which is accessible, the phone number to call 12 for applications to move a registration record or for absentee ballot 13 applications, the phone number to call for the location of registration 14 and polling places, the phone number to call to indicate that the voter 15 is willing to serve on election day as an election inspector, poll 16 clerk, interpreter or in other capacities, the phone number to call to 17 obtain an application for registration by mail, and such other informa- 18 tion concerning the elections or registration as the board may include. 19 In lieu of sending such communication to every registered voter, the 20 board of elections may send a single communication to a household 21 containing more than one registered voter, provided that the names of 22 all such voters appear as part of the address on such communication. 23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.