§ 5-900 — Integrated personal voter registration application required

New York § 5-900

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ELN: Election
• Title 9: Automatic Voter Registration
• Art. 5: Registration and Enrollment of Voters

Text

§ 5-900. Integrated personal voter registration application required.\n1. In addition to any other method of voter registration provided for by\nthis chapter, state and local agencies designated in subdivisions\nthirteen and fourteen of this section shall provide to the state board\nof elections voter registration qualification information associated\nwith each person who submits an application for services or assistance\nat such agency, including a renewal, recertification, or reexamination\ntransaction at such agency, and each person who submits a change of\naddress or name form. For the purposes of the department of motor\nvehicles, "application for services or assistance at such agency" refers\nonly to an application for a motor vehicle driver's license, a driver's\nlicense renewal or an identification card if such card is issued by the\ndepartment of motor vehicles in its normal course of business. For\npurposes of the New York city housing authority "application for\nservices or assistance at such agency" refers only to applications that\nreach an eligibility interview and reexamination transactions. Such\ndesignated agencies shall ensure agency applications substantially\ninclude all of the elements required by section 5-210 of this article,\nincluding the appropriate attestation, so that persons completing such\napplications shall be able to also submit an application to register to\nvote through the electronic voter registration transmittal system. For\npurposes of this section, "agency" shall mean any state or local agency,\ndepartment, division, office, institution or other entity designated in\nsubdivision thirteen of this section or designated by the governor\npursuant to subdivision fourteen of this section. For purposes of this\nsection, registration shall also include pre-registration pursuant to\nsection 5-507 of this article.\n 2. For each application submitted to the agency, whether\nelectronically or on paper, the agency shall transmit to the state board\nof elections through an interface with the electronic voter registration\ntransmittal system established and maintained by the state board of\nelections that portion of the application that includes voter\nregistration information. The state board of elections shall\nelectronically forward such application to the applicable board of\nelections of each county or the city of New York for filing, processing\nand verification consistent with this chapter.\n 3. An integrated voter registration form submitted to an agency in\npaper format shall be transmitted to the state board of elections\nthrough an electronic voter registration transmittal system by\nconverting the paper form to an image file or a portable document format\nfile which shall thereafter be deemed the original form for voter\nregistration and enrollment purposes. The agency shall retain the\ncomplete original paper application for no less than two years. The\ntransmittal of the converted paper application may include or be\naccompanied by data elements and transmittal information as required by\nthe rules and regulations of the state board of elections.\n 4. An integrated voter registration application submitted to an agency\nin an electronic format shall be transmitted to the state board of\nelections through the electronic voter registration transmittal system\nand shall include all of the voter registration data elements, including\nelectronic signature, as applicable, and record of attestation of the\naccuracy of the voter registration information and any relevant document\nimages.\n 5. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no agency designated\nunder this section shall transmit to the state board of elections any\napplication for registration for a person that indicates on the\nintegrated personal voter registration application that they do not meet\none of the eligibility requirements.\n 6. The voter registration related portion of each agency's integrated\napplication for services or assistance shall:\n (a) include a statement of the eligibility requirements for voter\nregistration and shall require the applicant to attest by the\napplicant's signature that the applicant meets those requirements under\npenalty of perjury and is applying to register or pre-register to vote\nunless such applicant declines such registration;\n (b) inform the applicant, in print identical to that used in the\nattestation section of the following:\n (i) voter eligibility requirements;\n (ii) penalties for submission of a false registration application;\n (iii) that the office where the applicant applies for registration\nshall remain confidential and the voter registration information shall\nbe used only for voter registration purposes;\n (iv) that if the applicant applies to register to vote electronically,\nsuch applicant thereby consents to the use of an electronic copy of the\nindividual's manual signature that is in the custody of the department\nof motor vehicles, the state board of elections, or other agency\ndesignated by this section, as the individual's voter registration\nexemplar signature if the individual voter's exemplar signature is not\nprovided with the voter registration application;\n (v) if the applicant signs the application and does not check the box\ndeclining to register to vote, such applicant thereby consents to the\nuse of any information required to complete the voter registration\napplication;\n (vi) if the applicant declines to register, such applicant's\ndeclination shall remain confidential and be used only for voter\nregistration purposes; and\n (vii) that applying to register or declining to register to vote will\nnot affect the amount of assistance that the applicant will be provided\nby this agency;\n (c) include a box for the applicant to check to indicate whether the\napplicant would like to decline to register to vote along with the\nfollowing statement in prominent type, "IF YOU DO NOT CHECK THIS BOX,\nAND YOU PROVIDE YOUR SIGNATURE ON THE SPACE BELOW, YOU WILL HAVE APPLIED\nTO REGISTER OR PRE-REGISTER TO VOTE, AND YOU WILL HAVE ATTESTED TO YOUR\nELIGIBILITY TO REGISTER OR PRE-REGISTER TO VOTE."\n (d) include the following warning statement in prominent type, "IF YOU\nARE NOT A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, YOU MUST CHECK THE BOX BELOW.\nNON-CITIZENS WHO REGISTER OR PRE-REGISTER TO VOTE MAY BE SUBJECT TO\nCRIMINAL PENALTIES AND SUCH VOTER REGISTRATION OR PRE-REGISTRATION MAY\nRESULT IN DEPORTATION OR REMOVAL, EXCLUSION FROM ADMISSION TO THE UNITED\nSTATES, OR DENIAL OF NATURALIZATION.";\n (e) include a space for the applicant to indicate the applicant's\nchoice of party enrollment, with a clear alternative provided for the\napplicant to decline to affiliate with any party and the following\nstatement in prominent type " ONLY ENROLLED MEMBERS OF A POLITICAL PARTY\nMAY VOTE IN THAT PARTY'S PRIMARIES".\n (f) include a statement that if an applicant is a victim of domestic\nviolence or stalking, the applicant may contact the state board of\nelections before or after registering or pre-registering to vote in\norder to receive information regarding the address confidentiality\nprogram for victims of domestic violence under section 5-508 of this\narticle.\n 7. Information from the voter relevant to both voter registration and\nthe agency application shall be entered by the voter only once upon an\nelectronic application.\n 8. The agency shall redact or remove from the completed integrated\napplication to be transmitted to the state board of elections any\ninformation solely applicable to the agency application.\n 9. Information concerning the citizenship status of individuals, when\ncollected and transmitted pursuant to subdivision one of this section,\nshall not be retained, used or shared for any other purpose except as\nmay be required by law.\n 10. A voter shall be able to decline to register to vote using an\nintegrated application by selecting a single check box, or equivalent,\nwhich shall include the following statement: "I DECLINE USE OF THIS FORM\nFOR VOTER REGISTRATION AND PRE-REGISTRATION PURPOSES. DO NOT FORWARD MY\nINFORMATION TO THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS."\n 11. The voter shall be able to sign the voter registration application\nand the agency application by means of a single manual or electronic\nsignature unless the agency requires more than one signature for other\nagency purposes.\n 12. No application for voter registration shall be submitted if the\napplicant declines registration or fails to sign the integrated\napplication, whether on paper or online.\n 13. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-three, designated\nagencies for purposes of this section shall include the department of\nmotor vehicles. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-four,\ndesignated agencies for the purposes of this section shall also include\nthe department of health, the office of temporary and disability\nassistance, the department of labor, the office of adult career and\ncontinuing education services - vocational rehabilitation, county and\ncity departments of social services, and the New York city housing\nauthority, as well as any other agency designated by the governor.\nBeginning January first, two thousand twenty-five, designated agencies\nfor the purposes of this section shall also include the state university\nof New York. Each designated agency shall enter into an agreement with\nthe state board of elections finalizing the format and content of\nelectronic transmissions required by this section. The state board of\nelections shall prepare and distribute to designated agencies written\ninstructions as to the implementation of the program and shall be\nresponsible for establishing training programs for employees of\ndesignated agencies listed in this section. Such instructions and such\ntraining shall ensure usability of the integrated application for low\nEnglish proficiency voters. Any such designated agency shall take all\nactions that are necessary and proper for the implementation of this\nsection, including facilitating technological capabilities to allow\ntransmission of data through an interface with the electronic voter\nregistration transmittal system in a secure manner.\n 14. Every other year, the governor shall conduct a review of each\nparticipating agency under section 5-211 of this article not already\ndesignated as an automatic voter registration agency pursuant to this\nsubdivision in order to determine whether designation is appropriate.\nThe governor shall designate each participating agency that collects\ninformation or documents that would provide proof of eligibility to vote\nunless the governor determines that there are compelling reasons why\nautomatic voter registration is not feasible at the agency. If the\ngovernor should determine that there are compelling reasons why\nautomatic voter registration is not feasible at an agency, the governor\nshall prepare a report explaining those reasons to the legislature by\nthe end of the calendar year in which that determination is made. Any\nagency designated by the governor pursuant to this subdivision shall\nprovide automatic voter registration upon the earlier occurrence of: (a)\ntwo years after designation by the governor, or (b) five days after the\ndate of certification by the state board of elections that the\ninformation technology infrastructure to substantially implement the\nprovisions of this section at the agency is functional.\n 15. The state board of elections shall promulgate rules and\nregulations for the creation and administration of an integrated\nelectronic voter registration process as provided for by this section.\n 16. Each participating agency shall provide an opportunity through\nrulemaking for public notice and comment regarding the plans for\nimplementation in the agency. Such opportunity must be provided\nsufficiently in advance of implementation to allow for adjustment of\nagency plans to take public comment into account. Agency plans for\nimplementation shall provide for sufficient testing of the process in\nthe agency prior to implementation in order to ensure the technology is\nfunctioning properly, the process is usable and understandable for\napplicants and agency employees, and reasonable precautions have been\nput in place to minimize error or the possibility of discouraging\napplications for services, assistance, or registration.\n