This bill would require the New York City Board of Elections to provide a secure website and mobile application that would allow users to (1) track the status of their absentee application and ballot; (2) view their registration status; (3) view the party for which they are a registered member; (4) view the federal, state, and local election districts in which they reside; (5) know whether they are required to bring any form of identification to vote; (6) view which elections held over the previous four calendar years for which they were registered to vote and whether they voted; (7) view the address at which they were previously registered to vote; (8) provide the option to receive alerts, including when there is a change in their registration status; (9) providing access to existing resources including (a) registering to vote, (b) updating registration information, (c) viewing sample ballots, (d) polling place locations, (e) voting hours, (f) signing up as a poll workers, and (g) viewing the voter guide.
Int. No. 659-A
By Council Members Kallos, Cabrera, Eugene, Gentile, Gibson, King, Wills, Mendez, Rodriguez, Rosenthal, Cohen, Vallone, Kallos and Borelli
A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to creating an online voter information portal allowing absentee voters to track the status of their absentee application and ballot, allowing users to view their registration status and voting history and allowing users to access online resources related to voting
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 46 of the New York city charter is amended by adding a new section 1057-e to read as follows:
§ 1057-e Voter information portal.
The board of elections in the city of New York shall provide a secure website and mobile application that shall not require the user to create an account, but shall, through methods determined by the board, require verification that the user is accessing his or her own record. The information presented in such website and mobile application shall be updated with any applicable changes no less frequently than daily. Such website and mobile application shall include, but not be limited to, the following functionality:
a. allowing any registered voter who has submitted an application for an absentee ballot, or who otherwise has a right to receive an absentee ballot, for an upcoming election pursuant to the election law to view the current status of their absentee application and absentee ballot. Such website and mobile application shall indicate for each such voter whether the board of elections in the city of New York has:
(1) received such voter’s request for an absentee ballot, if applicable;
(2) approved or rejected such request, if applicable, and, if rejected, a brief statement of the reason for rejection;
(3) mailed or delivered an absentee ballot to such voter for such upcoming election, and shall include the ability for such voter to see the status of a mailed absentee ballot by United States postal service intelligent mail barcode or successor technology;
(4) received such voter’s completed absentee ballot for such upcoming election; and
(5) determined that such voter’s completed absentee ballot was invalid, and, if such a finding was made, a brief statement of the reason.
b. allowing the user to view his or her registration status, including but not limited to:
(1) active status, with the inclusion of the date on which the user’s status became active;
(2) inactive status, with a brief explanation of what this status means and why the user is categorized as such; and
(3) purged, with a brief explanation of what this status means and why the user is categorized as such.
c. allowing any registered voter to view the party for which they are a registered member, if any.
d. allowing the user to view the federal, state, and local election districts in which such user resides.
e. informing any registered voter whether they are required to bring any form of identification to vote and, if so, which form of identification.
f. allowing the user to view which elections held over, at a minimum, the previous four calendar years for which the records of the board of elections in the city of New York indicate:
(1) that such user was registered to vote; and
(2) for such elections, whether such user voted and whether such user did not vote.
g. allowing the user to view, if applicable, the address at which the user was previously registered to vote.
h. through such communication methods as determined by the board of elections in the city of New York, providing any registered voter with the option to receive alerts including, but not limited to, a change in their registration status.
i. allowing the user to access existing online resources including, but not limited to, resources allowing such user to:
(1) register to vote;
(2) update registration information;
(3) view sample ballots;
(4) look up polling place locations;
(5) look up voting hours;
(6) sign up as a poll worker; and
(7) view the voter guide.
§ 2. This local law takes effect January 1, 2017.
dss/smd
LS 3351/2014
4/27/16 9:00 pm