Bill Text: NY S08827 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires any student graduating from a high school in New York state be provided with a voter registration form.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-12 - PRINT NUMBER 8827A [S08827 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S08827-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8827--A IN SENATE March 19, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring any student graduating from a high school in New York state be provided with a voter registration form 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 section 5-232 2 to read as follows: 3 § 5-232. Graduating high school students. 1. In addition to any other 4 method of voter registration provided for in this article, every quali- 5 fied person shall be provided with an application for registration and 6 enrollment upon graduation from any public or private high school within 7 the state. Such application shall be in the same form as prescribed by 8 section 5-210 of this title. 9 2. A school district in which qualified persons are graduating shall 10 transmit any completed application for registration form to the appro- 11 priate board of elections not later than ten days after receipt except 12 that all such completed applications and forms received by the school 13 districts or department of education after the twentieth day prior to an 14 election and by the twelfth day before such election shall be transmit- 15 ted in such manner and at such time as to assure their receipt by such 16 board of elections as soon as practicable and not later than the tenth 17 day before such election. All transmittals shall include original signa- 18 tures. 19 3. Completed application forms received by a school district not later 20 than the twelfth day before the next ensuing primary, general or special 21 election and transmitted by such school district to the appropriate 22 board of elections so that they are received not later than the tenth 23 day before such election shall entitle the applicant to vote in such 24 election provided the board determines that the applicant is otherwise 25 qualified. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14546-02-4S. 8827--A 2 1 4. Disclosure of voter registration information, including a declina- 2 tion to register, by a school district, its agents or employees, for 3 purposes other than voter registration shall be deemed an unwarranted 4 invasion of personal privacy pursuant to the provisions of subdivision 5 two of section eighty-nine of the public officers law and shall consti- 6 tute a violation of this chapter. 7 5. Application forms shall be processed by the board of elections in 8 the manner prescribed by section 5-210 of this title. The board shall 9 send the appropriate notice of approval or rejection as required by 10 subdivision nine of such section 5-210. 11 6. Strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment shall 12 be maintained and all persons seeking voter registration forms and 13 information shall be advised that government services are not condi- 14 tioned on being registered to vote. 15 7. No statement shall be made nor any action taken to discourage the 16 applicant from registering to vote. 17 8. The state board of elections shall adopt such rules and regulations 18 as may be necessary to carry out the requirements of this section. The 19 board shall also adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to 20 require county boards and the department of education to provide the 21 state board of elections with such information and data as the board 22 deems necessary to assess compliance with this section and to compile 23 such statistics as may be required by the federal elections commission. 24 9. The state board of elections shall develop and distribute public 25 information and promotional materials relating to the purposes and 26 implementation of this program. 27 10. The state board of elections shall prepare and distribute to the 28 department of education written instructions as to the implementation of 29 the program and shall be responsible for establishing training programs 30 for employees of the department of education and each school district 31 involved in such program. 32 11. The commissioner of education shall take all actions which are 33 necessary and proper for the implementation of this section. The commis- 34 sioner of education shall designate one person within the department as 35 the department voter registration coordinator who will, under the direc- 36 tion of the state board of elections, be responsible for the voter 37 registration program in such department. 38 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 39 the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the 40 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary 41 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized 42 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
