Bill Text: NY A10963 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a ranked choice voting method for presidential elections whereby voters rank candidates according to the order of their choice and, if no candidate has received a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest first choice votes is eliminated and the remaining candidates advance to another counting round until a winner is determined.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-09-09 - referred to election law [A10963 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A10963-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10963 IN ASSEMBLY September 9, 2020 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Paulin) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to establishing a ranked choice voting method for presidential elections The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new article 18 to 2 read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 18 4 RANKED CHOICE VOTING FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 5 Section 18-100. Definitions. 6 18-102. Ranked choice voting method for presidential elections. 7 18-104. Ranked choice voting method; ballots. 8 18-106. Ranked choice voting method; procedures. 9 18-108. Voter education. 10 18-110. Construction. 11 § 18-100. Definitions. "Ranked choice voting method" shall mean a 12 method of casting and tabulating votes that simulates the ballot counts 13 that would occur if all voters participated in a series of runoff 14 elections, whereby the voters rank candidates according to the order of 15 their choice and, if no candidate has received a majority of votes, the 16 candidate with the fewest first choice votes shall be eliminated and the 17 remaining candidates advance to another counting round. In every round, 18 each ballot shall be counted as one vote for the highest ranked advanc- 19 ing candidate. 20 § 18-102. Ranked choice voting method for presidential elections. 1. 21 Ranked choice voting for presidential elections. Beginning with the two 22 thousand twenty-four election, all presidential elections shall be 23 conducted using the ranked choice voting method. 24 2. The state board of elections is hereby authorized to promulgate 25 rules and regulations mandating all county board of elections to conduct 26 all presidential elections, including general elections, special 27 elections, and primaries to be held in the year two thousand twenty-four EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16842-02-0A. 10963 2 1 and for all presidential elections held thereafter, utilizing the ranked 2 choice voting method. 3 § 18-104. Ranked choice voting method; ballots. 1. Notwithstanding 4 the provisions of article seven of this chapter, or of any other 5 provision of law to the contrary, ballots in an election for president 6 and vice president of the United States shall conform to the provisions 7 of this section. The ballot shall be simple and easy to understand and 8 allow a voter to rank candidates in order of choice. A voter shall 9 include no more than one write-in candidate among such voter's ranked 10 choices. 11 2. Instructions on the ballot shall conform substantially to the 12 following specifications, although subject to modification, based on 13 ballot design and voting machine: 14 "Vote for candidates by indicating your first-choice candidates in 15 order of preference. Indicate your first choice by marking the number 16 "1" beside a candidate's name, your second choice by marking the number 17 "2" beside a candidate's name, your third choice by marking the number 18 "3" beside a candidate's name and so on, for as many choices as you 19 wish. You may choose to rank only one candidate, but ranking additional 20 candidates will not hurt the chances of your first-choice candidate. Do 21 not mark the same number beside more than one candidate. Do not rank the 22 same candidate more than once. Do not skip numbers." 23 3. A sample ballot for an election subject to the ranked choice voting 24 method shall illustrate the voting procedure for the ranked choice 25 voting method. Such a sample ballot shall be included with each absen- 26 tee ballot. 27 4. The board of elections shall ensure that the necessary voting 28 system, vote tabulation system, or other similar or related equipment 29 shall be available to accommodate the ranked choice voting method where 30 the ranked choice voting method is required by this article. 31 5. When a candidate is nominated for an office to be filled at the 32 election by more than one party, the voting machine shall be so adjusted 33 that a candidate's name appears in each row or column containing gener- 34 ally the names of candidates for other offices nominated by any such 35 party. 36 § 18-106. Ranked choice voting method; procedures. The following 37 procedures shall apply in determining the winner in an election subject 38 to the ranked choice voting method: 39 1. The first choice marked on each ballot shall be counted initially 40 by election officials. If one candidate receives a majority of the 41 votes, excluding blank and void ballots, that candidate shall be 42 declared elected. 43 2. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes at the 44 end of the initial count, the candidate receiving the fewest first- 45 choice votes shall be eliminated. Each vote cast for the eliminated 46 candidate shall be transferred to the candidate who was the voter's next 47 choice on the ballot. 48 (a) If a candidate is nominated by more than one party or independent 49 body, the vote totals from each party line containing that candidate 50 shall be treated separately in the first round solely for the purpose of 51 determining each party's vote share. 52 (b) If a candidate is nominated by more than one party or independent 53 body, the vote totals from each party line containing that candidate 54 shall be treated as combined in every round for the purposes of deter- 55 mining if any candidate has a majority and determining which candidate 56 to eliminate.A. 10963 3 1 (c) For the purposes of section 12-100 of this chapter, if a winning 2 candidate is nominated by more than one party or independent body and 3 such parties or independent bodies nominated more than one slate of 4 candidates for elector of president and vice president of the United 5 States, the electors of the party or independent body whose party line 6 received the most votes of such parties or independent bodies that nomi- 7 nated the winning candidate in the final round shall be elected. 8 3. Candidates with the fewest votes shall continue to be eliminated, 9 with the votes for such candidates being transferred to the candidate 10 who was each voter's next choice on the ballot until a candidate 11 receives a majority of the votes, excluding blank and void ballots. When 12 a candidate receives a majority of the votes, such candidate shall be 13 declared the winner. 14 4. If a ballot has no more available choices ranked on it, such ballot 15 shall be declared exhausted. Where a ballot skips two or more consec- 16 utive numbers, such ballot shall be declared exhausted where the skip- 17 ping of numbers begins on such ballot. A ballot with the same number for 18 two or more candidates shall be declared exhausted where the double 19 numbers begin on such ballot. 20 5. Where a tie is reached between candidates for last place, and thus 21 elimination, occurring at any stage in the tabulation, the tie shall be 22 resolved so as to eliminate the candidate who received the least number 23 of votes at the previous stage of tabulation. In the case of a tie to 24 which a previous stage does not apply, or such previous stage was also a 25 tie, the tie shall be resolved by drawing lots. However, if the tie 26 occurs when there are only two candidates remaining, the tie shall be 27 resolved in accordance with the provisions of this article. 28 § 18-108. Voter education. The board of elections shall conduct a 29 voter education campaign on the ranked choice voting system to familiar- 30 ize voters with the ballot design, method of voting, and advantages of 31 determining a majority winner in a single election. 32 § 18-110. Construction. All elections held by the ranked choice voting 33 method pursuant to this article shall be subject to all the other 34 provisions of this chapter and all other applicable laws relating to 35 elections, so far as is applicable and not inconsistent with this arti- 36 cle. 37 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
