Sunday, March 31, 2019

NYS BOE Election Law Proposals for 2019


The following is a brief Description of the New York State Board of Elections’ Legislative Proposals to address the Administration of Elections for 2019.

SBOE 19-01 - Election Day Start Time for Poll Workers: Requires poll workers to arrive at the poll site one (as opposed to ½) hour prior to the opening of the polls on Election Day.

SBOE 19-02 - Elimination of Party Emblem: Removes the requirement to put the party emblem on the ballot allowing boards of elections more flexibility in ballot design.

SBOE 19-03 - Removes Petitioning for LIPA Trustee: Removes LIPA Trustee from offices for which petitions are filed because the position is now appointed, not elected.

SBOE 19-04 - Publication of Election Results: Eliminate the outdated and costly requirement that certified election results be printed in certain legal ads.

SBOE 19-05 - Publication by Advertising Website Notice: Provides newspaper advertising requirements are satisfied by publishing description of notice and where to find the notice on the board of elections’ website, provided the board of elections upon request would provide the information by mail or other means.

SBOE 19-06 Local Campaign Finance Filers to State Board: Local boards of election will no longer be required to receive campaign finance filings for certain local committees.

SBOE 19-07 Authorizes Election District Increase to Two Thousand Voters and Permits Parties to Apportion Any Number of Committeepersons: Election districts allowed to have 2,000 voters, and party committees decide the number of, and how to apportion, members of county committees to avoid any loss of membership.

SBOE 19-08 Elimination of Duplicate Electronic Filings: Upon meeting certain disclosure and publication criteria, a campaign finance board filing for a candidate may be deemed to meet the Election Law reporting requirement.

SBOE 19-09 - Clarification of Local Proposition Filing Requirements: Clarifies state board of elections does not approve local proposition abstracts, and requires filing of local propositions earlier to ensure orderly inclusion on the ballot.

SBOE 19-10 - Multiple Vacancies For Same Office: Provides that when an office is on the ballot to fill both a vacancy for the remainder of the current year as well as a new term, the office will appear only once on the primary ballot and general election ballot.

SBOE 19-11 - New Party Names: New parties must file a certificate indicating their name no later than the last day of February after the election at which the party obtains ballot status.

SBOE 19-12 - Alternative Poll Site Organization: Permits boards of elections to adopt alternative poll site staffing plans to more efficiently administer elections.

SBOE 19-13 - Poll Watcher Appointment: Clarifies entities eligible to appoint Watchers at an election by making the current statute more readable and unambiguous.

SBOE 19-14 - Election Day Non Instruction Day at Schools: To make schools more accessible as polling sites, provides that schools will not schedule regular instruction on the day of the general election.

SBOE 19-15 - Voting Systems Use: Provides that boards of elections shall whenever possible make voting equipment available to municipalities conducting elections, and empowers boards to charge expenses to such municipalities.

SBOE 19-16 - Village Caucuses Relating To Elections Held in November: Clarifies statute to ensure there is no legal ambiguity as to the ability of parties to use caucuses in the same manner available to towns for the purpose of making village nominations.

SBOE 19-17 - Training for New Election Officials: Requires new election officials receive introductory training and an annual update not to exceed three hours.

SBOE 19-18 - Clarify Town Caucus Voter Participant Cannot Sign Independent Nominating Petition: Provides for filing of list of town caucus participants.

SBOE 19-19 - Filing Exclusion For Under $1,000 Expenditure in Small Jurisdictions To Include All Political Subdivisions With Population Under Ten Thousand.

SBOE 19-20 - Clarify OTB Committee to Receive Notices Has Capacity To Bring Proceedings: Clarifies committee named by an Opportunity to Ballot petition has capacity to seek judicial relief in the same manner as a candidate named by a petition.

SBOE 19-21 - Court Competent to Receive Signer Testimony Regarding Signature on Petition: Clarifies that courts may receive testimony of voters to authenticate their signatures.

SBOE 19-22 - Deficiency Notices By First Class Mail Instead of Certified Mail: Permits mailing deficiency notices under Election Law § 3-104-a by first class mail instead of by certified mail if an affidavit of mailing is created to evidence the mailing.

SBOE 19-23 - Requires County Boards of Elections To Publish Contribution Limits Applicable in County on Website And Provide Information to State Board of Elections.

SBOE 19-24 - Amends 14-116 to Clarify Inapplicability to Independent Expenditure Committees. The current limitation on corporate contributions as applied to independent expenditures was held unconstitutional. This proposal removes the unconstitutional application of this provision.

SBOE 19-25 - Repeal Individual Aggregate Limits, Election Law 14-114 (8): The current limitation on individual aggregate contributions was held unconstitutional. This proposal removes the unconstitutional provision.

SBOE 19-26 - Repeal Per Capita Party Spending Limit, Election Law 14-114 (5): The current spending limit on certain party contributions is unconstitutional. This proposal removes the unconstitutional provision.

SBOE 19-27 - Require Clear Instruction To Turn Ballot Over When Two-Sided Ballot. Ensures clear instruction to voters when ballot is two-sided.

SBOE 19-28 - Change 72 Hour Filing Requirement For Convention Minutes to Three Days: Conforms election law filing deadlines to all be measured in days.

SBOE 19-29 - Remove Limitation of Two Weeks Before Election For Issuance of Election Employee Special Ballots: Permits special ballots to be delivered to election workers no earlier than when absentee ballots are made available to the public.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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