NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6436
SPONSOR: Palmesano TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the county
seat in Steuben county to have at least one polling place designated for
early voting
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF THE BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to amend L. 2020, Chapter 344 (A. 8610-B),
relating to the designation of poll sites for early voting.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of
section 8-600 of the Election Law to provide that the county seat of
Steuben County may be a designated as an early polling site for the
purposes of such law.
Section two is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Chapter 344 of the laws of 2020 requires each county board of elections
to include at least one early voting site in the municipality with the
highest population in such county based on the latest federal decennial
census. Chapter 344 also provides that, to the extent practicable, if
such municipality has public transportation routes, such polling place
shall be situated along such transportation routes.
In the case of Steuben County, the Town of Bath, which is the largest
municipality in Steuben County, is located in close proximity to the
county seat, Bath. The Steuben County seat, Bath, is also served by
public transportation routes. Additionally, having this polling site
located in the Steuben County Office Building along with the Board of
Elections is both beneficial for voters and instrumental in the effi-
cient use of time, money and resources. Thus, under these special
circumstances, it is appropriate to authorize Steuben County to desig-
nate the county seat, Bath, as an early voting site in compliance with
Chapter 344.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
No fiscal implications for the State.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.5087 of 2023-24; held in Election Law A.7402 of 2021
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
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6436
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PALMESANO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the county
seat in Steuben county to have at least one polling place designated
for early voting
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the
2 election law, as amended by chapter 781 of the laws of 2021, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 (b) The largest city in the county or, if there is no city in the
5 county, the municipality with the highest population in each county
6 based on the latest federal decennial census, or the county seat in
7 Washington county, or the county seat in Steuben county, shall have at
8 least one polling place designated for early voting, and to the extent
9 practicable if such city or municipality has public transportation
10 routes, such polling place shall be situated along such transportation
11 routes.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03741-01-5
