§ 5-500 — Registration records; form and content

New York § 5-500

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

Text

§ 5-500. Registration records; form and content. 1. There shall be two\nrecords of the registration of each voter. Except as otherwise provided\nin this chapter, one record shall be sent, at the time of every\nelection, to the polling place where the voter is entitled to vote, and\nshall be known as the "registration poll record". Between elections it\nshall be kept in the main office or a branch office of the board of\nelections. The other record shall be kept constantly in such main office\nor branch office and shall be known as the "central file registration\nrecord". The two types of records shall be prepared in different colors.\n 2. The face of each registration record, at or before its use, shall\nhave entered at the top the name of the county in which it is to be used\nand a registration serial number, which shall be different for each\nvoter but the same for the two records of each voter.\n 3. The central file registration records shall be printed on one side\nonly, and shall be identical in substance, printing and arrangement with\nthe face of the registration poll records.\n 4. The central file registration records and the face of the\nregistration poll records shall contain a space for the voter's\nsignature, preceded by the words, "The foregoing statements are true",\nand followed by the signature of the two members of the board of\ninspectors or central registration board by whom the voter is\nregistered. In addition, there shall be spaces for the following\nentries, all of which shall precede the space for the voter's signature:\n a. Serial number assigned to voter and county of registration;\n b. The voter's surname, given name and initials of other names;\n c. The date of registration;\n d. The residence address at which the voter claims to reside and post\noffice address, if not the same; and the number or designation of the\nroom, apartment, or floor occupied by the voter if he or she does not\nclaim the entire building as his or her residence; and in addition,\nspace for the furnishing of an e-mail address, the furnishing of which\nshall be optional, together with a notice stating that if an e-mail\naddress is furnished, all notices and communications otherwise required\nto be sent by the state board of elections to the voter by postal mail\nshall be sent by e-mail in addition to postal mail. County boards of\nelections and the board of elections of the city of New York shall have\nthe option of sending notices and communications otherwise required to\nbe sent to the voter by postal mail by e-mail in addition to postal mail\nif the voter furnishes an e-mail address;\n e. The assembly district or ward and the election district in which\nsuch residence address is located;\n f. The length of the voter's residence in the county or city\ncalculated to the time of the next general election;\n g. Whether the voter has previously voted or registered to vote and,\nif so, the approximate year in which he last voted or registered and his\nname and address at the time;\n h. His date of birth;\n i. A space for the applicant to indicate whether or not he is a\ncitizen of the United States;\n j. The gender of the voter (optional);\n k. The telephone number of the applicant (optional);\n l. Whether the voter was challenged;\n m. A space for the applicant to indicate his choice of party\nenrollment, with a clear alternative provided for the applicant to\ndecline to affiliate with any party.\n n. On the face of each registration record there also shall be spaces\nappropriately entitled, for entering information about the cancellation\nof registration, the date of such cancellation and the reason therefor,\nand the signature of the two members or employees of the board,\nrepresenting different political parties by whom the cancellation was\nrecorded;\n o. A space for "remarks" regarding other facts required by this\nchapter to be recorded or appropriate to identify the voter;\n p. A space for pre-registering applicants to respond to the following\nquestion: "Are you at least 16 years of age and understand that you must\nbe 18 years of age on or before election day to vote, and that until you\nwill be eighteen years of age at the time of such election your\nregistration will be marked 'pending' and you will be unable to cast a\nballot in any election?".\n 5. On each registration poll record shall be spaces appropriately\nentitled and arranged for the voting record and signature of each voter.\nEach line above the last shall be reserved for the entries for each\nelection at which the voter casts his vote. Such arrangement shall allow\nfor the entry of the following information with reference to each\nelection at which the registrant shall vote; the year, month and day of\nthe election; the voter's number recorded on the public-counter, and the\ndesignation of the particular machine used if there be more than one in\nthe district, if voting machines are used; the number on the ballot\ndelivered and voted by the voter, if paper ballots are used; the\nsignature of the voter; and the signatures or initials of the election\ninspectors by whom the voter is admitted to vote. On the last line at\nthe bottom shall be a space for the voter's signature to be made at the\ntime of registration.\n 6. On a different part of the registration poll record shall be spaces\nfor recording the enrollment of the voter, changes in such enrollment,\nincluding, in each case, the number of the enrollment blank used, the\ndate, the name of the party, appropriate remarks; and the initials of\nthe board members who make any entry:\n 7. The state board of elections shall prescribe the form of the record\nrequired by this section which may include any additional information it\nshall deem necessary. The state board may provide that the form of\napplication for registration by mail may be used in lieu of the form\nprescribed by this section.\n