Bill Text: NY A10515 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Authorizes absentee voting during the declared state of emergency for COVID-19.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-22 - reported referred to rules [A10515 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10515-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10515

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 24, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. DenDekker)
          -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law

        AN ACT in relation to authorizing absentee voting  during  the  declared
          state of emergency for COVID-19

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that
     2  the state of New York is in the midst of a natural disaster as a  result
     3  of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this crisis, on March
     4  2,  2020,  the  legislature  amended article 2-B of the executive law to
     5  expand the governor's emergency powers to address disasters caused by  a
     6  disease  outbreak. The governor signed the legislation into law the next
     7  day (chapter 23 of the laws of 2020). On March  7,  2020,  the  governor
     8  issued Executive Order 202, declaring a state disaster emergency for the
     9  entire  state of New York. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organiza-
    10  tion declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. Three  days  later,  the
    11  President of the United States declared a national emergency under Proc-
    12  lamation 9994 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    13    This  natural disaster, caused by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, has
    14  resulted in 361,515 COVID-19 positive cases, and 23,391 deaths since the
    15  first case was identified in New York on March  1,  2020.  The  COVID-19
    16  outbreak  has severely disrupted the health care system in New York city
    17  and threatens the statewide system as a whole. Facing  severe  shortages
    18  of  respiratory  ventilators  and personal protection equipment to treat
    19  critically ill patients, the governor took drastic  steps  to  slow  the
    20  exponential  growth  of  the deadly disease. These steps include, in the
    21  interest of preserving life and  public  health,  a  policy  of  "social
    22  distancing,"  including  avoiding  gatherings  of more than 10 people to
    23  prevent the spread of COVID-19. This has also included  the  closure  of
    24  all but essential businesses statewide, the closure of schools, colleges
    25  and  universities  statewide,  and  the postponement of the presidential
    26  primary from April 28 to June 23, 2020.
    27    The legislature further finds that open elections  are  essential  for
    28  democracy  and to the orderly continuation of New York's state and local

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16514-01-0

        A. 10515                            2

     1  governmental operations.  All state legislative seats  in  the  assembly
     2  and senate are up for election this year and the threat of contagion and
     3  the  necessary  policy of social distancing could drastically affect the
     4  willingness  of  the  citizenry  to  vote  in person in the midst of the
     5  pandemic. In order to facilitate the  participation  of  voters  in  the
     6  elections  that  will  decide  who  takes office on January 1, 2021, the
     7  legislature finds that it is necessary to allow all voters to  vote  via
     8  an  absentee  ballot  due to the risk of exposure to the deadly COVID-19
     9  coronavirus.
    10    § 2. Absentee voting. Notwithstanding section 2 of article II  of  the
    11  constitution of the state of New York, in order to insure the continuity
    12  of  state  and local governmental operations in this period of emergency
    13  due to the natural disaster created by the COVID-19 worldwide  pandemic,
    14  the legislature uses its constitutional authority pursuant to section 25
    15  of article III of the constitution of the state of New York to authorize
    16  all registered voters who are entitled to vote in an election during the
    17  declared COVID-19 state emergency to request, receive and cast an absen-
    18  tee  ballot due to the risk of exposure to the deadly COVID-19 coronavi-
    19  rus. Such ballots shall be canvassed  and  counted  if  otherwise  valid
    20  pursuant to the election law and related executive orders.
    21    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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