NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A290
SPONSOR: Walker
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to providing protections
against illegal voter purging
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to enhance the ability of every qualified
New Yorkers to exercise his or her fundamental right to vote by bolster-
ing voter protections when challenges to voter qualifications are made
by non-election officials.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new subdivision 4 to section 4-117 of the Election Law
to provide that any person, other than an election officer, who mails or
causes to be mailed, between August 1st and December 31st of any calen-
dar year, any first class non forwardable mail, where such person knows
or reasonably should know that such non-forwardable mail:
(a) is intended to be delivered to a registered voter; and (b) may be
used by a challenger, other than an election officer, on election day to
challenge the qualifications of a voter, shall file with the board of
elections within 2 business days a duplicate copy of the non-forwardable
mail, a duplicate copy of the names and addresses to which such mail was
sent and a completed form as prescribed the board of elections. Failure
to comply with the requirements of this newly added subdivision is made
punishable as a misdemeanor.
Section 2 amends section 8-502 of the Election Law to require any
person, other than an election inspector, who challenges the qualifica-
tions of a voter to complete, execute and deliver to the board of
inspectors a challenge affidavit that satisfies the requirements of
section 8-503 of the Election Law.
Section 3 adds a new section 8-503 to the Election Law to: (a) require
NYS BOE to prescribe the form and content of an election day challenge
affidavit for use at any election and make the forms available to all
qualified voters, and (b) establish the procedures to be followed by a
person completing a challenge affidavit and by the election inspector
administering the oath/affirmation required by that section.
Section 4 amends 8-504 of the Election Law to prescribe the questions
and preliminary oath given to voter's whose qualifications are chal-
lenged.
Section 5 amends section 8-504 of the Election Law to by adding a new
section 9 to provide that information concerning the, individual's citi-
zenship status Collected during the challenging process should not be
retained, used or shared for any other purpose except for voting quali-
fication purposes.
Section 6 amends paragraphs (b) and (e) of subdivision 2, of section
8-508 of the Election law to require the challenge report to include, in
addition to the name and address of the voter challenged, the name and
address of the person who challenged such voter, if such person is not
an election inspector, and to include in the Certification for the
report the reason for such challenge and the name of all challengers who
are not inspectors or clerks.
Section 7 amends subdivision 3 of section 8-510 of the Election Law to
require that each challenge affidavit be secured with the challenge
report.
Section 8 amends subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 17-108 of the Election
Law to add challenge reports and challenge affidavits to the list of
items in that section that, if willfully lost, altered, destroyed or
mutilated by any person, or a false statement in made in connection
with, constitutes a misdemeanor..
Section 9 sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
It is essential that challenges to voter eligibility protect against
improper discriminatory allegations made solely to disenfranchise or
intimidate voters. Such improper challenges have frequently targeted
voters of color, student voters, and voters with disabilities. It is
imperative that steps are taken to help ensure that qualified voters are
not subjected to such challenges at the polling place.or prevented from
exercising their fundamental right to vote.
This bill will require that adequate protections are in place to help
ensure that such allegations are not made without proper proof and
documentation.
Such protections include requiring any person, other than an election
inspector, who challenges the qualifications of a voter at an election
to complete, execute and deliver to the board of inspectors a "challenge
affidavit" that includes specific identifying information about the
affiant (e g., name, residence and business address and employer) as
well as a recital of the reasons and facts supporting the affiant's
belief that the challenged voter lacks one or more of the legal quali-
fications for voting. The bill would also add making a false statement
on the challenge affidavit or destroying a challenge report or challenge
affidavit to the list of items that constitute a misdemeanor. These
provisions will bolster protections for qualified voters to ensure their
fundamental right, to vote is preserved.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-2018:A6587- Referred to Election law
2019-2020:A3334- Referred to Election law
2020-2021:A4264- Referred to Election law
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
290
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 4, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to providing protections
against illegal voter purging
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 4-117 of the election law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
3 4. Any person, other than an election officer, who pays for, mails or
4 causes to be mailed, any mail, where such person knows or reasonably
5 should know that such mail: (a) is intended to be delivered to a regis-
6 tered voter or voter registration applicant; and (b) may be used by a
7 challenger, other than an election officer, to challenge the qualifica-
8 tions of a voter, shall file with the state board of elections within
9 two business days of such mailing, a duplicate copy of such mail, a
10 duplicate copy of names and addresses to which such mail was sent, and a
11 completed form prescribed by the state board of elections. Such form
12 shall contain: the full name, residence and business address, and the
13 name of the employer of the person who pays for, mails or causes to be
14 mailed the mailing; the approximate number of pieces of such mail; and a
15 statement certifying the accuracy of such duplicate copies and of the
16 information contained in the complete form. The failure to comply with
17 the provisions of this subdivision shall create a presumption that such
18 mail shall not be used to challenge the qualifications of a voter.
19 § 2. Section 8-502 of the election law, as amended by chapter 373 of
20 the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
21 § 8-502. Challenges; generally. 1. Before his or her vote is cast at
22 an election any person may be challenged as to his or her right to vote,
23 in accordance with the provisions of this section, or his or her right
24 to vote by absentee, military, special federal or special presidential
25 ballot. Such challenge may be made by an inspector or clerk, by any duly
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00994-01-3
A. 290 2
1 appointed watcher, or by any registered voter properly in the polling
2 place in accordance with the provisions of this section.
3 2. An inspector shall challenge every person offering to vote, whom he
4 or she shall know or suspect is not entitled to vote in the district,
5 and every person whose name appears on the list of persons to be chal-
6 lenged on election day which is furnished by the board of elections.
7 3. Any person, other than an inspector or clerk, may challenge the
8 qualifications of a voter only by completing, executing and delivering
9 to the board of inspectors a challenge affidavit that satisfies the
10 requirements of section 8-503 of this title.
11 § 3. The election law is amended by adding a new section 8-503 to
12 read as follows:
13 § 8-503. Challenge affidavit. 1. The state board of elections shall
14 prescribe the content and form of a challenge affidavit for use at any
15 general, special, town or village election and at any primary election.
16 Such affidavit shall contain the affiant's full name, residence and
17 business address, the name of his or her employer, the registration
18 serial number of the person challenged and a recital of the reasons and
19 the facts supporting the affiant's belief that the person challenged
20 lacks one or more of the qualifications for voting prescribed in section
21 5-102 or 5-106 of this chapter and specified in such affidavit. The
22 affidavit shall state if the reason for challenge are based upon the
23 affiant's personal knowledge or upon information received from another
24 person. If the affiant's belief is based upon information furnished by
25 another, the affidavit shall recite the name of the person furnishing
26 the information and the basis for his or her information. After the
27 affiant has filed such affidavit, an inspector from each major party
28 shall read to him or her and request him or her to sign the following
29 oath which shall be subscribed by such affiant: "I do solemnly swear (or
30 affirm) that I am a qualified voter of the city or county in which this
31 affidavit is signed and that the foregoing statement made by me on
32 (insert day, month and year) is a truthful disclosure of the reasons for
33 my belief that the registered voter therein named is not qualified to
34 vote in the election district in which he or she is now registered." If
35 the affiant shall take and sign such oath, an inspector shall sign his
36 or her name as a witness below the affiant's subscription to such oath.
37 An inspector may request state-issued identification to affirm the iden-
38 tity of the challenger. Each challenge affidavit shall only challenge
39 the qualifications of one voter.
40 2. The boards of elections shall make challenge affidavit forms avail-
41 able to all qualified voters.
42 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 8-504 of the election law, as renumbered
43 by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
44 2. (a) If the applicant shall take the preliminary oath, the inspector
45 shall ask the applicant [such] the following questions as [may] they
46 pertain to the reason his or her right to vote at such election in such
47 district was challenged[.]:
48 Are you eighteen years of age or older?
49 Are you a citizen of the United States?
50 Have you been a resident of this state and of this county (and the
51 City of New York or village, as applicable) for the past thirty days or
52 more?
53 Do you swear that you have not already voted at this election?
54 (b) If any applicant shall refuse to answer fully any of the questions
55 [which may be put to him] in this subdivision, he or she shall not be
56 permitted to vote.
A. 290 3
1 § 5. Section 8-504 of the election law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 8 to read as follows:
3 8. Information concerning the citizenship status of individuals, when
4 collected and transmitted pursuant to this section, shall not be
5 retained, used or shared for any other purpose except as may be required
6 by law. A failure to certify that an individual is a citizen of the
7 United States shall be considered an innocent error. Such person failing
8 to certify United States citizenship shall not be considered as attempt-
9 ing to register to vote.
10 § 6. Paragraphs (b) and (e) of subdivision 2 of section 8-508 of the
11 election law, as amended by section 11 of part XX of chapter 55 of the
12 laws of 2019, are amended to read as follows:
13 (b) The second section of such report shall be reserved for the board
14 of inspectors to enter the name, address and registration serial number
15 of each person who is challenged at the time of voting together with the
16 reason for the challenge, the name and address of the person challenging
17 the qualifications of such voter, if such person challenging the quali-
18 fications is not an inspector or clerk, and the words "Permitted to
19 Vote" or "Refused to take oath". If no voters are challenged, the board
20 of inspectors shall enter the words "No Challenges" across the space
21 reserved for such names. In lieu of preparing section two of the chal-
22 lenge report, the board of elections may provide, next to the name of
23 each voter in the computer generated registration list, a place for the
24 inspectors of election to record the information required to be entered
25 in such section two, or provide elsewhere in such registration list, a
26 place for the inspectors of election to enter such information.
27 (e) At the foot of such report or at the end of any such computer
28 generated registration list, if applicable, shall be a certificate that
29 such report or list contains the names of all persons who were chal-
30 lenged on the day of election, [and] the reason for such challenge and
31 the names and addresses of all challengers who are not inspectors or
32 clerks that each voter so reported as having been challenged took the
33 oaths as required, that such report or list contains the names of all
34 voters to whom such board gave or allowed assistance and lists the
35 nature of the disability which required such assistance to be given and
36 the names and family relationship, if any, to the voter of the persons
37 by whom such assistance was rendered; that each such assisted voter
38 informed such board under oath that he required such assistance and that
39 each person rendering such assistance took the required oath; that such
40 report or list contains the names of all voters who were permitted to
41 vote although their registration poll records were missing; that the
42 entries made by such board are a true and accurate record of its
43 proceedings with respect to the persons named in such report or list.
44 § 7. Subdivision 3 of section 8-510 of the election law, as amended by
45 section 12 of part XX of chapter 55 of the laws of 2019, is amended to
46 read as follows:
47 3. The inspectors shall place such completed report, each challenge
48 affidavit and each court order, if any, directing that a person be
49 permitted to vote, in the secure container provided by the county board
50 of elections for such ledger of registration records or computer gener-
51 ated registration lists and then shall close and seal each ledger of
52 registration records or computer generated registration lists, lock such
53 ledger in the carrying case furnished for that purpose and enclose the
54 keys in a sealed package or seal such list in the envelope provided for
55 that purpose.
A. 290 4
1 § 8. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 17-108 of the election law, as
2 amended by chapter 373 of the laws of 1978, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. Any person who wilfully loses, alters, destroys or mutilates the
5 list of voters or registration poll ledgers, a challenge affidavit, or a
6 challenge report in any election district, or a certified copy thereof,
7 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
8 2. An applicant for registration who shall make, incorporate or cause
9 to be incorporated a material false statement in an application for
10 registration, or in any challenge or other affidavit required for or
11 made or filed in connection with registration or voting, and any person
12 who knowingly takes a false oath before a board of inspectors of
13 election, and any person who makes a material false statement in a
14 medical certificate, a challenge affidavit or an affidavit filed in
15 connection with an application for registration, is guilty of a misde-
16 meanor.
17 § 9. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.