Bill Text: NY A10833 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Authorizes absentee voting; defines the term "illness" for the purposes of absentee voting to include instances where a voter is unable to appear personally at the polling place of the election district in which they are a qualified voter because there is a risk of contracting or spreading a disease causing illness to the voter or to other members of the public.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-08-20 - APPROVAL MEMO.4 [A10833 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10833-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10833

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      July 19, 2020
                                       ___________

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

        AN  ACT  to  amend the election law, in relation to absentee voting; and
          providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

          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 8-400 of the election law, as
     2  amended by chapter 63 of the laws of 2010, paragraph (c) as  amended  by
     3  chapter 375 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
     4    1.  A qualified voter may vote as an absentee voter under this chapter
     5  if, on the occurrence of any village election conducted by the board  of
     6  elections,  primary  election, special election, general election or New
     7  York city community school board district  or  city  of  Buffalo  school
     8  district election, he or she expects to be:
     9    (a)  absent from the county of his or her residence, or, if a resident
    10  of the city of New York absent from said city; or
    11    (b) unable to appear personally at the polling place of  the  election
    12  district  in  which he or she is a qualified voter because of illness or
    13  physical disability or duties related to the primary care of one or more
    14  individuals who are ill or physically disabled, or  because  he  or  she
    15  will  be  or  is a patient in a hospital, provided that, for purposes of
    16  this  paragraph,  "illness"  shall  include,  but  not  be  limited  to,
    17  instances  where  a  voter is unable to appear personally at the polling
    18  place of the election district in  which  they  are  a  qualified  voter
    19  because  there  is a risk of contracting or spreading a disease that may
    20  cause illness to the voter or to other members of the public; or
    21    (c) a resident or patient of a veterans health  administration  hospi-
    22  tal; or
    23    (d)  absent  from  his  or  her  voting residence because he or she is
    24  detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting  trial,  or
    25  confined  in jail or prison after a conviction for an offense other than
    26  a felony, provided that he or she is qualified to vote in  the  election
    27  district of his or her residence.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15746-15-0
        A. 10833                            2

     1    §  2.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
     2  deemed repealed January 1, 2022.