BILL NUMBER: S7231
SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to the time period during
which absentee ballots shall be mailed or delivered after an application
for such ballot is received by the board of elections
 
PURPOSE:
This bill establishes a sliding scale of mandatory turnaround time
frames for the processing of absentee ballot applications and ballot
issuance by boards of elections.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends § 8-406 of the election law to establish
fixed timeframes for when absentee ballots must be mailed or delivered
to voters. No such requirement exists under current law.
Under the proposal, mailing or delivery of an absentee ballot must occur
no later than forty-six days before the day of the election if the
application was received at least sixty days beforehand.
If the application is received by a board of elections after the sixti-
eth day before an election but no later than the forty-sixth day before
such election then such mailing or delivery of the ballot must occur no
later than the forty-second day before the day of the election.
If the application is received by a board of elections after the forty-
sixth day before an election but no later than the thirtieth day before
such election then such mailing or delivery of the ballot must occur
within four days of receipt.
If the application is received by a board of elections after the thirti-
eth day before an election but no later than the fifteenth day before
such election then mailing or delivery of the ballot must occur within
three days of receipt.
If the application is received by the board of elections after the
fifteenth day before an election then mailing or delivery of the ballot
must occur within two days of receiving the application.
If the application is received timely postmarked by mail after the
seventh day before the day of the election, the board shall make every
reasonable effort to mail or deliver the ballot at the board of
elections on the day the application is received.
If the application is delivered in person after the seventh day before
the day of the election and no later than the day before the election,
the board shall make every reasonable effort to deliver at the board of
election on the day the application is received.
Section two of the bill is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The legislature conducted a joint hearing to review the 2020 June prima-
ry election held during the COVID-19 pandemic and how to improve
election administration for the November 2020 general election. One of
the issues raised in testimony was the fact that voters have no way to
check whether their absentee ballot application has been processed in a
timely manner, and as such, no way to know when to expect receiving a
ballot back in the mail. More than 1.7 million absentee ballots were
requested for the 2020 June primary in New York State and as of July 1,
nearly 1 million of those ballots had been returned. In the 2016 presi-
dential primary, only 115,000 absentee ballots were returned. An even
higher volume of absentee ballots are expected to be requested for a
predictably higher-turnout, presidential-year election in November 2020.
This proposal would establish clear deadlines for the processing of this
critical information so voters know how long it may take to receive a
ballot based on when they specifically applied to vote absentee.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S1501 (Gianaris) died in Elections / A1364 (Walker) died in
elections
2022: S516 (Gianaris) died in elections / A9376 (Walker) died in
elections
2021: S516 (Gianaris) PASSED SENATE
2020: S8917-A (Gianaris) died in Rules
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S7231: 8-406 election law, 8-406(1) election law