BILL NUMBER: S4578
SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to providing voters an
opportunity to cure deficiencies regarding affidavit ballots
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To require that voters be notified if their affidavit ballots are inval-
idated for any reason and to allow voters the opportunity to cure inval-
idated affidavits in order to have their votes counted.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 9-209 of the election law to include a subdivi-
sion specifying that the board of elections, upon determining that an
affidavit ballot envelope is incomplete or in any other manner defec-
tive, shall send the voter who submitted the affidavit a notice explain-
ing why the affidavit was rejected and providing the voter an opportu-
nity to submit a duly signed cure affirmation, which will be reviewed by
the board of elections.
Section 2 provides the state board of elections the authority to imple-
ment the act.
Section 3 sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In New York State, voters who are required to file affidavit ballots on
Election Day have no way to know whether their affidavit ballots were
counted, nor do they have the opportunity to correct any minor errors in
the affidavit form. Because New York does not have this kind of "cure"
process for affidavit ballots, New Yorkers -especially those in our
state's most vulnerable communities -- have, in the repent past, had
their right to vote denied, often on the basis of mere technicalities
that were irrelevant to the actual voting process. The lack of transpar-
ency regarding the rejection of affidavit ballots cast on Election Day
has occurred in recent years on a large scale in New York. During the
2016 presidential primary, for example, 121,000 voters in New York State
were required to fill out affidavit ballots; approximately 90,000 of
those votes were invalidated. The tens of thousands of voters who cast
these affidavits were not entitled to any kind or notification of the
statue of their ballot, nor did they have a right to correct or complete
any information on their affidavit that could have been easily recti-
fied. Similar issues were reported in New York City during the recent
June 2020 primary elections, where many voters had their affidavit
ballots rejected due in large part to widespread poll site and party
irregularities, which proved not only very confusing to many voters, but
also deeply disruptive during an election already affected by an ongoing
global pandemic.
By requiring a curing process for affidavit ballots, this legislation
would empower voters with the opportunity to ensure that minor mistakes
or other irregularities in the election process do not deny them one of
their most fundamental rights as members of our civic community. This
bill, if enacted, would therefore maximize the number of votes counted
in our state's elections, strengthening our democratic process in New
York.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S5547/ A3859 Jackson
2022: S4184
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

Statutes affected:
S4578: 9-209 election law