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A10541 Summary:

BILL NOA10541
 
SAME ASSAME AS S09837
 
SPONSORRules (Zinerman)
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §9-209, El L
 
Requires the board of elections to provide a domestic postage paid return envelope which a voter may use to return a cure affirmation in paper form by mail; provides that a cure affirmation may be delivered in person, by mail or in electronic form as an attachment to an email.
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A10541 Actions:

BILL NOA10541
 
06/03/2024referred to election law
06/04/2024reference changed to ways and means
06/06/2024reported referred to rules
06/06/2024reported
06/06/2024rules report cal.522
06/06/2024substituted by s9837
 S09837 AMEND= MYRIE
 06/03/2024REFERRED TO RULES
 06/06/2024ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1876
 06/06/2024PASSED SENATE
 06/06/2024DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
 06/06/2024referred to ways and means
 06/06/2024substituted for a10541
 06/06/2024ordered to third reading rules cal.522
 06/07/2024passed assembly
 06/07/2024returned to senate
 08/06/2024DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR
 08/06/2024SIGNED CHAP.220
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A10541 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A10541
 
SPONSOR: Rules (Zinerman)
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the election law, in relation to curing ballots   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To ensure that voters are able to cure ballot defects within the allowed timeframe.   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of § 9-209 requiring the State Board of Elections to provide a postage paid envelope within which a voter may return a cure affirmation form. Voters may return the affirmation form to the State Board of Elections in person, by mail or via electronic form as an attachment to an email, specifying that such cure affirmation shall include the signature of the voter. The section also amends the timeframe in which the cure affirmation is required to be received by the State Board of elections, allowing it to be received no later than seven business days after the board's mailing of such curable rejection notice or by five o'clock on the seventh day following the election, whichever is later. The section also provides that any cure affirmation that is received electronically as an email attachment or by upload prior to midnight of the last day to cure is valid. Section 2 contains the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: With the introduction of no-excuse vote by mail, it is expected that more New Yorkers may choose to vote by mail. New York has one of the highest post cure rejection rates behind North Carolina, Nevada, and California. USPS issues are affecting ballot rejections tremendously, and it may be argued that this is in no small part due to USPS delays in mailing out and returning cure affidavits. If the cure deadlines remain tied to when the cure affirmation is mailed out, we are highly likely to see ballot rejections increase in NY this year due to these USPS delays.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is new legislation.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This bill would take on September 1, 2024.
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A10541 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          10541
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      June 3, 2024
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Zinerman) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
 
        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to curing ballots
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision 3 of section 9-209 of
     2  the election law, as amended by chapter 474 of the  laws  of  2023,  are
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    (d)  The  voter may cure the aforesaid defects by filing a duly signed
     5  affirmation attesting to the same information  required  by  the  ballot
     6  affirmation envelope and attesting that the signer of the affirmation is
     7  the  same  person who submitted such ballot envelope; provided, however,
     8  that for the defect described in subparagraph (vii) of paragraph (b)  of
     9  this  subdivision,  such  affirmation  shall also include an attestation
    10  that the voter mailed the ballot envelope on or before the  day  of  the
    11  election.  The  board  shall include a form of such affirmation with the
    12  notice to the voter. The affirmation shall be in a  form  prescribed  by
    13  the  state  board  of  elections, and with such affirmation the board of
    14  elections shall provide to the voter  a  domestic  postage  paid  return
    15  envelope  which may be used if the voter returns the cure affirmation in
    16  paper form by mail. A cure affirmation,  at  the  option  of  any  voter
    17  submitting  such  cure  affirmation,  may be transmitted to the board of
    18  elections in person, by mail or in electronic form as an  attachment  to
    19  an  email.  Such  cure  affirmation may also be provided to the board of
    20  elections as an uploaded electronic document if such board of  elections
    21  provides  such  functionality. The cure affirmation, whether in paper or
    22  electronic form, shall include the signature of the voter  duly  affixed
    23  to the appropriately completed cure affirmation form.
    24    (e) Such cure affirmation shall be received by the board no later than
    25  seven  business days after the board's mailing of such curable rejection
    26  notice or [the day before] by five p.m. on the seventh day following the
    27  election, whichever is later. Any cure  affirmation  received  electron-
    28  ically as an email attachment or by upload prior to midnight of the last
    29  day  to cure is timely. Provided the board determines that such affirma-
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15843-01-4

        A. 10541                            2
 
     1  tion addresses the curable defect, the rejected ballot  shall  be  rein-
     2  stated  and  prepared for canvassing pursuant to subdivision two of this
     3  section. If the board of elections is split as to the sufficiency of the
     4  cure  affirmation, such envelope shall be prepared for canvassing pursu-
     5  ant to paragraph (d) of subdivision two of this section.
     6    § 2. This act shall take effect September 1, 2024.
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