As of July 23, members of the New York State Legislature, which includes the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, have passed nine bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year.
Of the nine bills passed this year, five have been enacted. This is seven fewer than this point a year ago. Democrats sponsored four bills, while a bipartisan group of legislators sponsored one. A selection of enacted bill are below:
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NY A05057: Relates to the dates to file a designating petition; provides for the repeal of such provisions, Assembly Members Stacey Pheffer Amato (D), Alex Bores (D), Edward Braunstein (D), Kenneth Burgos (D), Monique Chandler-Waterman (D), Jeffrey Dinowitz (D), Simcha Eichenstein (D), Edward Gibbs (D), Deborah Glick (D), Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas (D), Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (D), Andrew Hevesi (D), Jonathan Jacobson (D), Anna Kelles (D), Charles Lavine (D), Grace Lee (D), Dana Levenberg (D), Steven Otis (D), Amy Paulin (D), Steven Raga (D), David Rosenthal (D), Nily Rozic (D), Manny De Los Santos (D), Rebecca Seawright (D), Amanda Septimo (D), Gina Sillitti (D), Jo Anne Simon (D), Tony Simone (D), Steve Stern (D), Latrice Walker (D), David Weprin (D), John Zaccaro (D), Karl Brabenec (R), Michael Novakhov (R), and Edward Ra (R).
- As amended, this bill requires a designating petition be filed no earlier than the 13th Monday before and no later than the 12th Monday before the primary election. A signature made earlier than 41 days before the last day to file designating petitions for the primary election or a signature made later than the 12th Thursday before the primary election will not be counted.
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NY S00852: Relates to the accessibility of congressional, senatorial, assembly and election district maps in downloadable digital file formats compatible with geographic information (GIS) software, Sen. James Skoufis (D).
- Specifies that election district maps on websites must be available in a specific downloadable digital format.
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NY S00822: Permits electronic correspondence with regard to determinations on objections to designating petitions, independent nominating petitions, certificates of nomination or ballot access documents upon the consent of the objector, Sen. Rachel May (D).
- Provides that notice regarding the sufficiency of a petition may be given electronically instead of by overnight mail, with the consent of the objector or candidate.
- Outlines how a candidate or objector may consent to electronic notice.
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NY S00818: Adjusts the effective date of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York to July 1, 2023, Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D).
- Changes the deadline for enactment of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act to July 1, 2023.
From July 17-23, legislators passed one bill related to election administration nationally. As of July 23, Texas legislators have passed the most bills this year with 35, while Alaska, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin legislators have passed the fewest bills with zero. The state with the most enacted bills is Texas with 33, while seven states have enacted none.
The New York State Legislature was scheduled to be in regular session from Jan. 4 to June 8 this year. In 2022, New York legislators passed 19 election-related bills, 10 in the state Senate and nine in the state House. All 19 bills were enacted into law. New York is a Democratic trifecta, meaning Democrats control the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature.
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