NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8657
SPONSOR: Simpson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the county
seat in Warren county to have at least one polling place designated for
early voting
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would permit Warren County to continue siting its early voting
polls at the county complex.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: :
Section 1- Amends paragraph (b) of Subdivision 2 of section 8-600 of the
election law. Section 2 -Provides effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
There is broad bipartisan consensus that the implementation of the early
voting laws under chapter 781 of 2021 would ultimately reduce access to
early voting throughout Warren County. In August 2021, the Warren County
board voted unanimously to seek an "exemption" from the then-proposed
amendments to the election law requiring polling sites within a "city"
if the county has one. Both county election commissioners, Republican
and Democrat, support the exclusion of the county from the "city"
provision. Warren County has one city, Glens Falls, which is located
less than six miles from the current polling site at Warren County
Municipal Center in Queensbury. Queensbury is the largest municipality
within the county. Its 30,000 residents constitute about 45 percent of
the county's total population. There are few viable locations within
city limits with the. space, parking, security and access to public
transport required to house an early voting site, the mayor of Glens
Falls wrote recently. The county municipal center is located on the
public bus route, has ample parking and is the logical location for
early voting.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect April 1, 2022 and shall apply to any general,
primary, run-off primary, or special election held thereafter.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8657
IN ASSEMBLY
January 10, 2022
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMPSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the county
seat in Warren 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 Warren 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 April 1, 2022 and shall apply to any
13 general, primary, run-off primary, or special election held thereafter.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14129-01-1
