Relates to voting by mail and early voting

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic2

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Kristen Gonzalez says this is needed

In 2023, New York honored its commitment to expanding voter access by adopting the Early Mail Voter Act, which created a method of mail voting available to all registered voters in parallel with New York's long- standing procedures for absentee voting. This bill makes improvements to the early mail voting process and harmonizes certain requirements with absentee voting to streamline election administration and improve voter convenience. First, the bill revises the text on early mail and absentee ballot envelopes to allow election officials to use the same envelopes for both types of ballots, saving printing costs for election officials and avoiding situations where election officials run out of one type of envelope or unintentionally use an absentee ballot envelope for an early mail ballot and vice versa. Second, the bill provides that if a registered voter submits an absentee ballot application that is otherwise complete, but the voter fails to indicate a reason that they are entitled to an absentee ballot, the application shall be processed as an early mail ballot application. This avoids penalizing a voter simply for using the wrong form to request a mail ballot and minimizes the need for election officials to unnecessar- ily reject an application and route a voter to a different form when they have all the needed information. Third, the bill allows registered voters applying for an early mail ballot to request a ballot for all elections in a two-year election cycle, allowing voters to avoid filing multiple requests, and saving election officials the time and effort of processing these additional requests. This bill also makes two improvements to the mail voting process for military and overseas voters. First, the bill allows military and overseas voters (known as special federal voters) to submit their applications to register to vote and request a mail ballot by electronic means or by fax. Under current law, military and overseas voters may only submit applications to register to vote and request a mail ballot by postal mail. New York is one of only eight states that require military and overseas voters to submit these applications by postal mail. Second, the bill allows military and overseas voters to continue to receive a mail ballot for elections as tong as they remain eligible and in military or special federal status. Under current law, military and overseas voters must renew their registration and request for a mail ballot every four years. This bill would align New York with seven other states that allow military and overseas voters to continue to receive ballots as long as they remain eligible, without the need to period- ically renew their requests.

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.