BILL NUMBER: S3596A
SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to notifying voters that
New York practices a closed primary system
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To better notify voters at the time of their registration that New York
State practices a closed Party Primary system.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph (f) of subdivision 5 of section 5-210 of the
Election Law, as it relates registration and enrollment and change of
enrollment upon application, to require notice to voters in bold font on
their registration form that New York practices a closed Party Primary
system and detail the consequences of that.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State has a closed primary election system, therefore if a
voter is not enrolled in a particular party then they are not able to
participate in Primary Elections. Roughly 29% of voters in New York
State are registered as party-unaffiliated and the rest, not registered
with either Democrat or Republican, are registered with smaller parties
like the Working Families Party, Conservative Party, and others. This
bill would require that on every voter registration form it be explained
in bold font to the voter the consequences of not being enrolled in a
Party in New York State. More explicitly notifying each voter at the
time of their registration would help to better educate the voter and
potentially impact the Primary enfranchisement of almost three million
voters in New York State.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-2018: S7014 Rivera/A5735-A Carroll
2019-2020: S496 Rivera/A3504 Carroll
2023-2024: S3465 Rivera/No Same As
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minor fiscal to update forms.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:,:
Effective immediately.

Statutes affected:
S3596: 5-210 election law, 5-210(5) election law
S3596A: 5-210 election law, 5-210(5) election law