§ 5-211 — Agency assisted registration

New York § 5-211

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ELN: Election
• Title 2: Registration and Enrollment
• Art. 5: Registration and Enrollment of Voters

Text

§ 5-211. Agency assisted registration. Each agency designated as a\nparticipating agency under the provisions of this section shall\nimplement and administer a program of distribution of voter registration\nforms pursuant to the provisions of this section. The following offices\nwhich provide public assistance and/or provide state funded programs\nprimarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities are\nhereby designated as voter registration agencies: designated as the\nstate agencies which provide public assistance are the office of\nchildren and family services, the office of temporary and disability\nassistance and the department of health. Also designated as public\nassistance agencies are all agencies of local government that provide\nsuch assistance. Designated as state agencies that provide programs\nprimarily engaged in providing services to people with disabilities are\nthe department of labor, office for the aging, department of veterans'\nservices, office of mental health, office of vocational and educational\nservices for individuals with disabilities, commission on quality of\ncare for the mentally disabled, office for people with developmental\ndisabilities, commission for the blind, office of addiction services and\nsupports, the office of the advocate for the disabled and all offices\nwhich administer programs established or funded by such agencies.\nAdditional participating agencies designated as voter registration\noffices are the department of state and the district offices of the\nworkers' compensation board. Such agencies shall be required to offer\nvoter registration forms to persons upon initial application for\nservices, renewal or recertification for services and upon change of\naddress relating to such services. Such agencies shall also be\nresponsible for providing assistance to applicants in completing voter\nregistration forms, receiving and transmitting the completed application\nform from all applicants who wish to have such form transmitted to the\nappropriate board of elections. The state board of elections shall,\ntogether with representatives of the United States department of\ndefense, develop and implement procedures for including recruitment\noffices of the armed forces of the United States as voter registration\noffices when such offices are so designated by federal law. The state\nboard of elections shall also make request of the United States\nCitizenship and Immigration Services to include applications for\nregistration by mail with any materials which are given to new citizens.\n 1. The state board of elections shall adopt such rules and regulations\nas may be necessary to carry out the requirements of this section and\nshall prepare and distribute to participating agencies written\ninstructions as to the implementation of the program and shall be\nresponsible for establishing training programs for employees of\nparticipating agencies involved in such program. The state board of\nelections shall provide a toll free telephone to answer registration\nquestions.\n 2. Strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment shall\nbe maintained and all persons seeking voter registration forms and\ninformation shall be advised that government services are not\nconditioned on being registered to vote. No statement shall be made nor\nany action taken to discourage the applicant from registering to vote.\n 3. If a participating agency provides services to a person with a\ndisability at the person's place of residence, the agency shall offer\nthe opportunity to complete a voter registration form at such place of\nresidence.\n 4. Each participating agency shall provide to each applicant who does\nnot decline to register to vote the same degree of assistance with\nregard to the completion of the registration application form as is\nprovided by the agency with regard to the completion of its own form\nunless the applicant refuses such assistance.\n 5. Employees of a voter registration agency who provide voter\nregistration assistance shall not:\n (a) seek to influence an applicant's political preference or party\ndesignation;\n (b) display any political preference or party allegiance;\n (c) make any statement to an applicant or take any action the purpose\nor effect of which is to discourage the applicant from registering to\nvote; or\n (d) make any statement to an applicant or take any action the purpose\nor effect of which is to lead the applicant to believe that a decision\nto register or not to register has any bearing on the availability of\nservices or benefits.\n 6. The state board of elections shall coordinate and monitor the\ndistribution of voter registration forms by those state agencies,\ndepartments, divisions and offices selected to participate in the\nprogram to maximize the efficient and non partisan distribution of voter\nregistration information and forms. The board shall also adopt such\nrules and regulations as may be necessary to require county boards and\nparticipating agencies to provide the state board with such information\nand data as the board deems necessary to assess compliance with this\nsection and to compile such statistics as may be required by the federal\nelections commission.\n 7. Each participating agency, department, division and office that\nmakes available voter registration forms shall prominently display\npromotional materials designed and approved by the state board of\nelections, informing the public of the existence of voter registration\nservices.\n 8. Each participating agency, department, division or office that\nmakes available voter registration forms pursuant to this section shall\noffer with each application for the services or assistance of such\nagency, department, division or office and with each recertification,\nrenewal or change of address form relating to such service or\nassistance, a registration form together with instructions relating to\neligibility to register and for completing the form except that forms\nused by the department of social services for the initial application\nfor services, renewal or recertification for services and change of\naddress relating to such services shall physically incorporate a voter\nregistration application in a fashion that permits the voter\nregistration portion of the agency form to be detached therefrom. Such\nvoter registration application shall be designed so as to ensure the\nconfidentiality of the source of the application. Included on each\nparticipating agency's application for services or assistance or on a\nseparate form shall be:\n (a) the question, "If you are not registered to vote where you live\nnow, would you like to apply to register here today?"\n (b) The statement, "applying to register or declining to register to\nvote will not affect the amount of assistance that you will be provided\nby this agency."\n (c) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the applicant\nwould like to register or decline to register to vote.\n (d) the statement in prominent type, "IF YOU DO NOT CHECK EITHER BOX,\nYOU WILL BE CONSIDERED TO HAVE DECIDED NOT TO REGISTER TO VOTE AT THIS\nTIME."\n (e) the statement, "If you would like help in filling out the voter\nregistration application form, we will help you. The decision whether to\nseek or accept help is yours. You may fill out the application form in\nprivate."\n (f) the statement, "If you believe that someone has interfered with\nyour right to register or decline to register to vote, your right to\nprivacy in deciding whether to register or in applying to register to\nvote, or your right to choose your own political party or other\npolitical preference, you may file a complaint with the state board of\nelections (address and toll free telephone number)."\n (g) a toll free number at the state board of elections that can be\ncalled for answers to registration questions.\n 9. Disclosure of voter registration information, including a\ndeclination to register, by a participating agency, its agents or\nemployees, for other than voter registration purposes, shall be deemed\nan unwarranted invasion of personal privacy pursuant to the provisions\nof subdivision two of section eighty-nine of the public officers law and\nshall constitute a violation of this chapter.\n 10. The form containing the declination to register to vote shall be\nretained by the recipient agency for the same period of time as such\nagency retains the accompanying application for services or for such\nshorter period of time as may be approved by the state board of\nelections.\n 11. The participating agency shall transmit the completed applications\nfor registration and change of address forms to the appropriate board of\nelections not later than ten days after receipt except that all such\ncompleted applications and forms received by the agency after the\ntwentieth day prior to an election and by the twelfth day before such\nelection shall be transmitted in such manner and at such time as to\nassure their receipt by such board of elections as soon as practicable\nand not later than the tenth day before such election.\n 12. Completed application forms, when received by a participating\nagency not later than the twelfth day before the next ensuing primary,\ngeneral or special election and transmitted by such agency to the\nappropriate board of elections so that they are received by such board\nnot later than the tenth day before such election shall entitle the\napplicant to vote in such election provided the board determines that\nthe applicant is otherwise qualified.\n 13. The state board of elections shall provide application forms for\nuse pursuant to this section except that any agency which uses a form\nother than such registration form shall be responsible for providing\nsuch form. Forms which vary in design and or content from the form\napproved by the state board of elections may only be used with the\napproval of such board.\n 14. Applications shall be processed by the board of elections in the\nmanner prescribed by section 5-210 of this title or, if the applicant is\nalready registered to vote from another address in the county or city,\nin the manner prescribed by section 5-208 of this title. The board shall\nsend the appropriate notice of approval or rejection as required by\neither subdivision nine of such section 5-210 or subdivision five of\nsuch section 5-208.\n 15. The head of each participating agency shall take all actions which\nare necessary and proper for the implementation of this section. Each\nagency head shall designate one person within the agency as the agency\nvoter registration coordinator who will, under the direction of the\nstate board of elections, be responsible for the voter registration\nprogram in such agency.\n 16. The state board shall develop and distribute public information\nand promotional materials relating to the purposes and implementation of\nthis program.\n 17. Each agency designated as a participating agency under this\nsection shall conduct a study and prepare a report to determine the\nfeasibility, practicality and cost-effectiveness of designing their\nagency intake forms to serve also as voter registration forms that\ncomply with state and federal law. Such study and report shall be\ncompleted by December 1, 1996. Copies of such reports shall be provided\nto the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of\nthe assembly and the state board of elections. After submission of the\nreport, participating agencies that determine that it is feasible,\npractical and cost-effective to have such forms also serve as voter\nregistration forms shall do so upon the approval of the state board of\nelections. For each agency that determines it is feasible, practical and\ncost effective to use agency intake forms that serve also as voter\nregistration forms, the state board of elections shall approve or\ndisapprove such use within six months of the submission of the report by\nthe agency.\n 18. (a) (i) On or before January first, two thousand twenty, all\ninstitutions of the state university of New York and the city university\nof New York shall create and make available to all students a webpage\nfor voter education on each such institution's website, containing a\nlink to an application for voter registration, a link to an application\nfor an early mail ballot, contact information for the county board of\nelections, and the name and contact information for the administrator\nresponsible for voter registration assistance on each campus.\n (ii) Each such institution shall, at the beginning of the school year,\nand again in January of a year in which the president of the United\nStates is to be elected, provide an application for voter registration\nand an application for an early mail ballot to each student in each such\ninstitution. Each institution shall be considered in compliance with the\nrequirements of this subparagraph for each student to whom the\ninstitution electronically transmits a message containing the link to\nthe webpage for voter education, the link to an application for voter\nregistration and the link to an application for an early mail ballot, if\nsuch information is in an electronic message devoted exclusively to\nvoter registration.\n (iii) Each such institution shall provide the same degree of\nassistance as required of participating agencies.\n (b) The state university of New York and the city university of New\nYork, on behalf of each institution within its system, shall on or\nbefore June first, two thousand twenty, and each subsequent year, submit\na report disaggregated according to each institution to the state board\nof elections that includes:\n (i) the efforts of the institution to register voters in the preceding\ncalendar year;\n (ii) a date-stamped screen shot of the webpage for voter education\nthat contains the required information under paragraph (a) of this\nsubdivision;\n (iii) the number of students who were registered for course work in\nthe preceding twelve months at such institution and the number of clicks\non the links to online voter registration and early mail ballot\napplications; and\n (iv) any other efforts or recommendations the institution plans to\nimplement to improve access to voter registration and early mail ballot\nvoting for students at the institution.\n (c) The state board of elections shall make the reports provided\npursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision publicly available on its\nwebsite.\n