§ 8-600 — Early voting

§ 8-600. Early voting. 1. Beginning the tenth day prior to any\ngeneral, primary, run-off primary pursuant to subdivision one of section\n6-162 of this chapter or special election for any public or party\nposition except for such an election held pursuant to title two of\narticle six or article fifteen of this chapter, and ending on and\nincluding the second day prior to such general, primary, run-off primary\nor special election for such public office or party position, persons\nduly registered and eligible to vote at such election shall be permitted\nto vote as provided in this title. The board of elections shall\nestablish procedures, subject to approval of the state board of\nelections, to ensure that persons who vote during the early voting\nperiod shall not be permitted to vote subsequently in the same election.\n 2. (a) The board of elections shall designate polling places for early\nvoting, which may include the offices of the board of elections, for\npersons to vote early pursuant to this title.\n (b) The largest city in the county or, if there is no city in the\ncounty, the municipality with the highest population in each county\nbased on the latest federal decennial census, or the county seat in\nWashington county, shall have at least one polling place designated for\nearly voting, and to the extent practicable if such city or municipality\nhas public transportation routes, such polling place shall be situated\nalong such transportation routes.\n (c) In counties with at least five hundred thousand registered voters,\nthere shall be so designated at least one early voting polling place for\nevery full increment of forty thousand registered voters.\n (d) In all other counties with less than five hundred thousand\nregistered voters, there shall be so designated at least one early\nvoting polling place for every full increment of thirty thousand\nregistered voters; provided, however, the number of early voting polling\nplaces in counties with less than five hundred thousand registered\nvoters shall not be required to be greater than ten nor less than one.\n (e) For any special, primary or run-off primary election at which no\nvoters of the municipality with the highest population within the county\nare eligible to vote, the board of elections may, in lieu of having an\nearly voting polling place in such municipality, designate a polling\nplace for early voting in the municipality with the highest population\nwithin the county within which the voters are eligible to vote at such\nspecial, primary, or run-off primary election.\n (f) The board of elections of each county or the city of New York may\nestablish additional polling places for early voting in excess of the\nminimum number required by this subdivision for the convenience of\neligible voters.\n (g) Notwithstanding the minimum number of early voting poll sites\notherwise required by this subdivision, for any primary or special\nelection, upon majority vote of the board of elections, the number of\nearly voting sites may be reduced when the board of elections determines\na lesser number of sites is sufficient to meet the needs of early\nvoters.\n (h) Polling places for early voting shall be located so that voters in\nthe county have adequate and equitable access, taking into consideration\npopulation density, travel time to the polling place, proximity to other\nearly voting poll sites, public transportation routes, commuter traffic\npatterns and such other factors the board of elections deems\nappropriate. The provisions of section 4-104 of this chapter, except\nsubdivisions four and five of such section, shall apply to the\ndesignation of polling places for early voting except to the extent such\nprovisions are inconsistent with this section.\n 3. Any voter may vote at any polling place for early voting\nestablished pursuant to subdivision two of this section in the county\nwhere such voter is registered to vote; provided, however, if it is\nimpractical to provide each polling place for early voting all of the\nelection district ballots or if early voting at any such polling place\nmakes ensuring that no voter has not previously voted early during such\nelection, the board of elections may assign election districts to a\nparticular early voting poll site. All voters in each county shall have\none or more polling places at which they are eligible to vote throughout\nthe early voting period on a substantially equal basis. If the board of\nelections does not agree by majority vote to plan to assign election\ndistricts to early voting poll sites, all voters in the county must be\nable to vote at any poll site for early voting in the county.\n 4. (a) Polls shall be open for early voting for at least eight hours\nbetween seven o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening\neach week day during the early voting period.\n (b) At least one polling place for early voting shall remain open\nuntil eight o'clock in the evening on at least two week days in each\ncalendar week during the early voting period. If polling places for\nearly voting are limited to voters from certain areas pursuant to\nsubdivision three of this section, polling places that remain open until\neight o'clock shall be designated such that any person entitled to vote\nearly may vote until eight o'clock in the evening on at least two week\ndays during the early voting period.\n (c) Polls shall be open for early voting for at least eight hours\nbetween nine o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening on\neach Saturday, Sunday and legal holiday during the early voting period.\n (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any board\nof elections from establishing a greater number of hours for voting\nduring the early voting period beyond the number of hours required in\nthis subdivision.\n (e) Early voting polling places and their hours of operation for early\nvoting at a general election shall be designated by May first of each\nyear pursuant to subdivision one of section 4-104 of this chapter.\nNotwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of section 4-104 of\nthis chapter early voting polling places and their hours of operation\nfor early voting for: (i) a primary or special election shall be made\nnot later than forty-five days before such primary or special election;\n(ii) thirty days before a special election held pursuant to paragraph b\nof subdivision three of section forty-two of the public officers law;\nand (iii) a run-off primary pursuant to subdivision one of section 6-162\nof this chapter shall be made as soon as practicable.\n (f) If the location of an early voting polling place as designated\npursuant to paragraph (e) of this subdivision changes prior to such\nearly voting period, notice shall be provided to all affected eligible\nvoters no later than five days prior to such voting period in accordance\nwith the communication plan established pursuant to subdivision five of\nthis section or as soon as practicable if such location change occurs\nwithin five days of the commencement of such early voting period;\nprovided, however, no such location change may occur within forty-eight\nhours of such commencement unless there is any disaster within the\nmeaning of section 3-108 of this chapter or a declared state of\nemergency by the governor or any court of competent jurisdiction in the\ncounty where the polling place is located.\n 5. Each board of elections shall create a communication plan to inform\neligible voters of the opportunity to vote early. Such plan may utilize\nany and all media outlets, including social media, and shall publicize:\nthe location and dates and hours of operation of all polling places for\nearly voting; an indication of whether each polling place is accessible\nto voters with physical disabilities; a clear and unambiguous notice to\nvoters that if they cast a ballot during the early voting period they\nwill not be allowed to vote election day; and if polling places for\nearly voting are limited to voters from certain areas pursuant to\nsubdivision three of this section, the location of the polling places\nfor early voting serving the voters of each particular city, town or\nother political subdivision.\n 6. The form of paper ballots used in early voting shall comply with\nthe provisions of article seven of this chapter that are applicable to\nvoting by paper ballot on election day and such ballot shall be cast in\nthe same manner as provided for in section 8-312 of this article,\nprovided, however, that ballots cast during the early voting period\nshall be secured in the manner of voted ballots cast on election day and\nsuch ballots shall not be canvassed or examined until after the close of\nthe polls on election day, and no unofficial tabulations of election\nresults shall be printed or viewed in any manner until after the close\nof polls on election day.\n 7. Voters casting ballots pursuant to this title shall be subject to\nchallenge as provided in sections 8-500, 8-502 and 8-504 of this\narticle.\n 8. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, at the end of\neach day of early voting, any early voting ballots that have not been\nscanned because a ballot scanner was not available or because the ballot\nhas been abandoned by the voter at the ballot scanner shall be cast in a\nmanner consistent with section 9-110 of this chapter, except that such\nballots which cannot then be cast on a ballot scanner shall be held\ninviolate and unexamined and shall be duly secured until after the close\nof polls on election day when such ballots shall be examined and\ncanvassed in a manner consistent with subdivision two of section 9-110\nof this chapter.\n 9. The board of elections shall secure all ballots and scanners used\nfor early voting from the beginning of the early voting period through\nthe close of the polls on election day; provided, however, the state\nboard of elections may by regulation duly adopted by a majority of such\nboard establish a procedure whereby ballot scanners used for early\nvoting may also be used on election day if the portable memory devices\nused during early voting containing the early voting election\ninformation and vote tabulations are properly secured apart from the\nscanners, and the results therefrom shall be duly canvassed after the\nclose of polls on election day.\n 10. After the close of polls on election day, inspectors or board of\nelections employees appointed to canvass ballots cast during early\nvoting shall follow all relevant provisions of article nine of this\nchapter that are not inconsistent with this section, for canvassing,\nprocessing, recording, and announcing results of voting at polling\nplaces for early voting, and securing ballots, scanners, and other\nelection materials. Such canvass may occur at the offices of the board\nof elections, at the early voting polling place or such other location\ndesignated by the board of elections.\n 11. Notwithstanding the requirements of this title requiring the\ncanvass of ballots cast during early voting after the close of polls on\nelection day, such canvass may begin one hour before the scheduled close\nof polls on election day provided the board of elections adopts\nprocedures to prevent the public release of election results prior to\nthe close of polls on election day and such procedures shall be\nconsistent with the regulations of the state board of elections and\nshall be filed with the state board of elections at least thirty days\nbefore they shall be effective.\n