BILL NUMBER: S1085
SPONSOR: STEWART-COUSINS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to prohibiting the
suppression of voters
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to create a new electoral crime of voter
suppression, punishable as a misdemeanor.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill names the bill the "Deceptive Practices and Voter
Suppression Prevention Act"
Section 2 amends the Election Law by adding a new section, creating the
crime of deceptive practices in relation to elections. Under this
section, knowingly spreading deceptive information aimed at interfering
with another citizen's right to vote would become a misdemeanor offense.
Section 3 amends the Election Law by adding a new section, creating the
crime of voter suppression. Under this section, suppressing, or threat-
ening to suppress, another citizen's voting rights, or forcing another
citizen to vote for or against a particular candidate, would become a
misdemeanor offense.
Section 4 amends the Election Law by amending an existing section. This
amendment changes the penalty for committing a second misdemeanor under
the Election law to a Class E felony. Additionally, the amendment chang-
es the penalty for committing a third misdemeanor under the Election
Law, and any subsequent misdemeanor under the Election Law, to a Class D
felony.
Section 5 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Voter suppression continues to impact the most at-risk New Yorkers every
election cycle. While acts of voter suppression can sometimes be subtle,
the impacts are often strong and widespread. As technology continues to
advance, bad actors across the state, the nation, and the world are able
to easily and deliberately suppress the voting rights of individuals,
especially those in marginalized groups.
An example of these suppression tactics can be found in New Hampshire,
where Steven Kramer, a political consultant, admitted to sending thou-
sands of voicemails to registered democrats two days before the state's
presidential primary election. The voicemail message was read out by a
generative artificial intelligence model trained to mimic the voice and
speech pattern of President Joe Biden, and the message itself falsely
claimed that voting in the presidential primary would prevent individ-
uals from voting in the 2024 general presidential election.
Another example from the 2020 presidential election involved conserva-
tive actors Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, based in Arlington, Virginia.
In August 2020, these individuals sent out robocalls to 85,000 individ-
uals located in predominately minority communities in New York, Illi-
nois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, containing false statements that authori-
ties would use information from mail-in ballots to track down
individuals with arrest warrants or outstanding debt. In October 2020,
these bad actors were ordered by a federal court to call all 85,000
individuals to correct their misinformation, and in August 2024, they
entered a settlement with New York State to pay $1.25 million for their
actions.
This legislation would fill a void in the Election Law by directly
addressing and holding accountable those who intentionally suppress the
right to vote. While it is unfortunate such a law is needed, New York
State must send a message that such actions will no longer be tolerated,
and that those who seek to infringe on others' constitutional rights
will be held criminally liable.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-S263 (Stewart-Cousins); Passed Senate in 2023 and 2024
2021-S1032 (Stewart-Cousins); Passed Senate in 2022
2019-S5758 (Stewart-Cousins); Referred to Elections
2017-S2952 (Stewart-Cousins); Referred to Elections
2015-S2352 (Stewart-Cousins); Referred to Elections
2013-S676 (Stewart-Cousins); Referred to Elections
2011-S1009 (Stewart-Cousins); Referred to Elections
2009-S2554B (Stewart-Cousins); Passed Senate in 2010
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

Statutes affected:
S1085: 17-166 election law