§ 5-202 — Local registration; provision for

§ 5-202. Local registration; provision for. 1. The board of inspectors\nfor every election district shall meet for the purpose of taking the\nregistration of voters not earlier than the sixth Saturday or later than\nthe fourth Saturday before each general election. During such period, in\nthe city of New York and in counties having a population of three\nhundred thousand or more, the board shall hold two meetings each year,\nincluding at least one on a Saturday. During such period, in all other\ncounties, the board shall hold one meeting each year, on a Saturday,\nexcept that in years in which a president of the United States is to be\nelected, the board shall hold two such meetings, including at least one\non a Saturday. If the polling place of an election district is located\nin a building owned by a religious organization or used by it as a place\nof worship, the building will not be required to be open for voter\nregistration on any Saturday if this is contrary to the religious\nbeliefs of the religious organization. The dates of such meetings and\nany additional meetings that the board of elections may, in its\ndiscretion, direct to be held shall be determined by the board of\nelections except that no such meeting shall be held on the religious\nholidays of Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashana, Simchas Torah, Shmini Atzereth or\nSuccoth. The board of elections shall also determine the hours for\nconducting all such meetings, provided, however, that there shall be not\nless than seven consecutive hours for registration on a Saturday and not\nless than three and one-half consecutive hours on any other meeting day.\nThe days and hours of registration shall be uniform throughout the\ncounty and in the city of New York throughout the city, and meetings\nshall begin not earlier than six o'clock in the morning and continue not\nlater than half-past ten o'clock in the evening and no Saturday meeting\nshall end before nine o'clock in the evening.\n 2. Local registration shall always be received by two members of the\nlocal board of inspectors, representing respectively the two political\nparties as provided herein for the appointment of inspectors.\n 3. The last day of local registration shall be uniform throughout the\nstate and such registration day shall be designated by the state board\nof elections not later than the first day of June preceding the general\nelection in each year. Such statewide registration day shall be one of\nthe registration days hereinabove provided in this section, provided,\nhowever, that in any year in which presidential and vice-presidential\nelectors are to be elected such day shall not be more than thirty days\nbefore the general election. If the polling place of an election\ndistrict is located in a building owned by a religious organization or\nused by it as a place of worship, the building will not be required to\nbe open for voter registration on a Saturday if this is contrary to the\nreligious beliefs of the religious organization.\n 4. Each board of elections shall make and file in its office and with\nthe state board of elections a determination as to the dates and hours\nfor local registration not later than the tenth day of July next\npreceding the general election in each year, and shall publish such\ndates and hours at least once in the two week period preceding the first\nday of such registration. Such publication shall be in two newspapers\npublished within the county. If the county contains a city or cities, at\nleast one of such newspapers shall be published in the city, or the\nlargest city, if there be more than one.\n 5. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this chapter, in any\nyear the board of elections may provide that a single place and a single\nboard of inspectors shall be used for taking the local registration of\ntwo or more election districts provided that such board shall find that\nmore than one-half the anticipated registrants in such districts are\nalready registered permanently. In cities, notice of such action shall\nbe published with the list of registration places as provided in this\nchapter. In towns, the board of elections shall cause notice of such\naction with the location of the registration place designated for such\nelection district to be posted in five conspicuous public places within\neach affected election district or to be published in the manner\nprovided by this chapter for the optional publication of places of\nregistration. In all cases where notice is given by publication, the\nboard of elections shall cause notice of such action, with the location\nof the registration place designated for such election district to be\nposted, on the days of registration, at the entrance to the regular\npolling place for each affected election district.\n 6. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any board of\nelections, and in the city of New York, the board of elections of the\ncity of New York, may, by resolution adopted not later than the first\nday of July in any year, except a year in which presidential and vice\npresidential electors are to be elected, provide that no meeting for\nlocal registration shall be held in the county or the city of New York.\nIf a board of elections or the board of elections of the city of New\nYork adopts a resolution eliminating meetings for local registration,\nsuch resolution shall remain in effect for such year and each succeeding\nyear, except years in which presidential and vice presidential electors\nare to be elected, unless it is thereafter repealed by a resolution\nadopted at least sixty days prior to the first day for holding local\nregistrations as provided for under the provisions of this article.\n