As of Feb. 26, Ballotpedia has tracked 111 election-related bills in the New York State Senate since the beginning of the year. Of the 111, Ballotpedia tracked four from Feb. 20-26. Democrats sponsored two, while Republicans sponsored two. The four bills are:
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NY S04867: Exempts the county of Fulton from the requirement that at least one early voting site be located in the largest city in such county; specifies that the requirement to maintain at least one early polling place remains, Sen. Mark Walczyk (R).
- As introduced, this bill exempts Fulton County from being required to have an early voting polling place in the largest city in the county but still be required to have one somewhere in the county.
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NY S05096: Requires the state board of elections to develop a program to be administered by all boards of elections to notify voters of certain information where their area has been redistricted, Sen. Cordell Cleare (D).
- As introduced, this bill requires the state board of elections to develop a program notifying voters that their districts may have changed due to redistricting, and specifies that the program must include, but not be limited to, mailings, online resources, telephone resources to assist voters in determining their district.
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NY S05052: Prevents municipalities from abridging the election law, Sens. George Borrello (R), Andrew Lanza (R), Mario Mattera (R), Peter Oberacker (R), Robert Ortt (R), Anthony Palumbo (R), Daniel Stec (R), James Tedisco (R), and Alexis Weik (R).
- As introduced, this bill clarifies that someone who does not have the right to register to vote according to state law also may not vote in county, city, town, or village elections through any action, nor may they register to vote for those local elections.
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NY S05076: Requires the board of elections to send an absentee ballot application to all voters who filed an absentee ballot application for the prior election; provides for a permanent absentee ballot application list, Sen. Cordell Cleare (D).
- Requires the board of elections to send an absentee ballot application to all voters who filed an absentee ballot application for the previous election.
- Requires the board of elections to establish a permanent absentee ballot application list.
- Provides that a voter may request to be placed on the list at any time by completing an application electronically or by mail.
- Authorizes a voter to request to be removed from the permanent absentee ballot list.
During the week of Feb. 20-26, Ballotpedia tracked 48 Senate election-related bills nationally. As of Feb. 26, Ballotpedia has tracked 595 Senate bills nationally. Ballotpedia tracked the most Senate bills this year in the New York State Senate with 111, while Ballotpedia tracked the fewest Senate bills in Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, and West Virginia with zero. Republicans sponsored 268 of these bills, while Democrats sponsored 255. Third party sponsorship and bills with no sponsors accounted for 53 bills, while bipartisan legislators sponsored 19.
As of Feb. 26, Ballotpedia has tracked 321 Senate bills in Democratic trifectas and 206 Senate bills in Republican trifectas. A trifecta is when one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Ballotpedia has tracked 68 Senate bills in states where neither party holds trifecta control.
The New York Senate is scheduled to be in session from Jan. 4 to June 8 this year. In 2022, Ballotpedia tracked 190 Senate bills related to election administration. Ten of these bills passed both chambers and eight were enacted into law. New York is a Democratic trifecta.
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