§ 5-208 — Transfer of registration and enrollment

§ 5-208. Transfer of registration and enrollment. 1. The board of\nelections shall transfer the registration and enrollment of any voter\nappearing on a statewide voter list pursuant to subdivision one of\nsection 5-614 of this article for whom it receives a notice of change of\naddress to another address in New York state, or for any voter who\nsubmits a ballot in an affidavit ballot envelope which sets forth such a\nnew address. Such notices shall include, but not be limited to, notices\nreceived from any state agency which conducts a voter registration\nprogram pursuant to the provisions of sections 5-211 and 5-212 of this\ntitle, that the voter has notified such agency of a change of address in\nNew York state unless the voter has indicated that such change of\naddress is not for voter registration purposes, notices of change of\naddress from the United States Postal Service through the National\nChange of Address System, any notices of a forwarding address on mail\nsent to a voter by the board of elections and returned by the postal\nservice, national or state voter registration forms, confirmation\nmailing response cards, United States Postal Service notices to\ncorrespondents of change of address, applications for registration from\npersons already registered in New York state, or any other notices to\ncorrespondents sent to the board of elections by such voters.\n 2. Upon receipt of such a notice, the board shall compare the\nsignature (if any) and other information with the signature and other\ninformation on the registration record on file. If such signature and\nother information appears to be correct, the board shall change the\naddress of the voter in all the records of such board.\n 3. If such a notice is received at least fifteen days before a\nprimary, special or general election, such change of address must be\ncompleted before such election.\n 4. If such application for registration from a voter already\nregistered in New York state also reflects a change of enrollment, the\nboard of elections shall treat such application as an application for\nchange of enrollment pursuant to section 5-304 of this article.\n 5. As soon as practicable, after it transfers a voter's registration,\nthe board of elections shall send the voter, by forwardable first class\nor return postage guaranteed mail, a notice advising him of the transfer\nin a form which is similar to the notice sent to new registrants\npursuant to the provisions of section 5-210 of this title and which has\nbeen approved by the state board of elections. If the notice of change\nof address did not contain the voter's signature, such notice shall\ninclude a postage paid return card, in a form prescribed by the state\nboard of elections, on which the voter may notify the board of elections\nof any correction of address, together with a statement on such notice\nand on the return card that the voter should return such card only if\nthe address to which the notice was sent is not the voter's current\naddress.\n 6. If a notice sent pursuant to subdivision five of this section is\nreturned by the postal service as undeliverable and without a forwarding\naddress, the board of elections shall return the registration of such\nvoter to the original address, send such voter a confirmation notice\npursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of section 5-712 of this\ntitle and place such voter in inactive status.\n 7. The board of elections shall preserve such notices of change of\naddress for as long as registration records are otherwise required to be\npreserved or, if the computer readable records maintained by the board\nof elections include a complete copy of such notice, the board shall\npreserve the original notice for a period of at least two years or such\nlonger period as the state board of elections may require.\n 8. If the board of elections receives notice of a change of address\nwithin New York state from, or with respect to, a person who it\ndetermines is not registered in New York state, it shall forthwith send\nsuch person a notice to that effect in a form approved by the state\nboard of elections at the new address set forth in such notice of change\nof address, together with a voter registration form.\n 9. The state board of elections shall promulgate regulations as to the\nprocedures for transferring a voter from one county to another.\n