BILL NUMBER: S9837
SPONSOR: MYRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to curing ballots
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that voters are able to cure ballot defects within the allowed
timeframe.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of § 9-209 requiring the State Board of
Elections to provide a postage paid envelope within which a voter may
return a cure affirmation form. The section also allows voters to return
the affirmation form to the State Board of Elections in person, by mail
or via electronic form as an attachment to an email, specifying that
such cure affirmation shall include the signature of the voter. The
section also amends the timeframe in which the cure affirmation is
required to be received by the State Board of elections, allowing it to
be received no later than seven business days after the board's mailing
of such curable rejection notice or by five o'clock on the seventh day
following the election, whichever is later. The section also provides
that any cure affirmation that is received electronically as an email
attachment or by upload prior to midnight of the last day to cure is
valid.
Section 2 contains the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
With the introduction of no-excuse vote by mail, it should expected that
more New Yorkers may choose to vote by mail. New York has one of the
highest post cure rejection rates among these states. Only NC, NV, and
CA are higher. USPS issues are affecting ballot rejections tremendously,
and it may be argued that this is in no small part due to USPS delays in
mailing out and returning cure affidavits. If the cure deadlines remain
tied to when the cure affirmation is mailed out, we are highly likely to
see ballot rejections increase in NY this year due to these USPS delays.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is new legislation.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take on September 1, 2024.