Requires government-issued photo registration for registration and voting

Latest action May 6, 2026

Requires a signature and government-issued photo identification for both voter registration and at the time of voting.

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Where it stands

Assigned to a committee for review.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A8129, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Committee

Election Law · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Judiciary · New York State Assembly, Judiciary · New York State Senate.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

Requires government-issued photo registration and voting. Concurrent Resolution of the State and Assembly proposing an amendment to section 7 of article 2 of the constitution in relation to providing identification when voting in person.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

The sponsor's argument

Why Steve Rhoads says this is needed

In a representative republic, faith in our election system depends upon the electorate's well-founded belief that votes are cast and counted in a consistent, fair and non-discriminatory manner, by individuals who are properly registered and eligible to do so. New York's system of voting currently relies upon the nothing more than the subjective determination of a volunteer poll worker that a signature on a computer tablet matches a signature contained on voter rolls maintained by local Boards of Elections. The establishment of reasonable requirements for the production of government-issued identification in order to vote adds a level of transparency, safety and security to this process. The legis- lation sets forth specific forms of identification and is proposed as a constitutional amendment to give the voters - not the politicians - the final say on this common sense measure to protect the integrity of our elections.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

May 6, 2026
Held for Consideration in Election Law
HELD FOR CONSIDERATION IN ELECTION LAW
NY Assembly
Feb 3, 2026
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate
Jan 30, 2026
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly
Jan 8, 2026
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Assembly
Jan 8, 2026
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Senate

Show full history (8 earlier events)

Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTION LAW
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate
Jun 2, 2025
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly
May 7, 2025
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Assembly
May 1, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTION LAW
NY Assembly
Mar 5, 2025
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate
Feb 6, 2025
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Senate
Feb 5, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 1, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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