Laws
| Name/Link | Description |
| US Constitution | The Constitution of the United States |
| Citizens | The 14th Amendment All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States |
| NYS Constitution | New York State Constitution Article II – Suffrage p6 (p8 .pdf) |
| NVRA | National Voter Registration Act (1993) Sec 2. Findings and Purposes. Sec. 5. Simultaneous Application for Voter Registration and Application for Motor Vehicle Driver’s License. Sec. 8. Requirements With Respect To Administration of Voter Registration Sec. 9. Federal Coordination and Regulations. |
| NVRA (US Code) | CHAPTER 205—NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION |
| Integrity & Accuracy | 52 U.S. Code § 20501 – Findings and purposes (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— (1) to establish procedures that will increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in elections for Federal office; (3) to protect the integrity of the electoral process; and (4) to ensure that accurate and current voter registration rolls are maintained. |
| Eligibility | 52 U.S. Code § 20504 – Simultaneous application for voter registration and application for motor vehicle driver’s license (c)(2)(B) may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to— (i) prevent duplicate voter registrations; and (ii) enable State election officials to assess the eligibility of the applicant |
| Registration Agencies | 52 U.S. Code § 20506 – Voter registration agencies (silent on verification requirements) |
| Administration | 52 U.S. Code § 20507 – Requirements with respect to administration of voter registration |
| Remove ineligible voters | (a) IN GENERAL (4)conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters by reason of— (A)the death of the registrant; or (B)a change in the residence of the registrant, in accordance with subsections (b), (c), and (d); |
| Removal Programs | (c) VOTER REMOVAL PROGRAMS (2)(A) A State shall complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of a primary or general election for Federal office, any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters. |
| Verification | 52 U.S. Code § 20508 – Federal coordination and regulations (b) CONTENTS OF MAIL VOTER REGISTRATION FORM.— (1) may require only such identifying information … to assess the eligibility of the applicant |
| HAVA | Help America Vote Act (2002) |
| Penalties | SEC. 905. OTHER CRIMINAL PENALTIES. (a) CONSPIRACY TO DEPRIVE VOTERS OF A FAIR ELECTION.— Any individual who knowingly and willfully gives false information in registering or voting in violation of section 11(c) of the National Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973i(c)), or conspires with another to violate such section, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in accordance with such section. (b) FALSE INFORMATION IN REGISTERING AND VOTING.— Any individual who knowingly commits fraud or knowingly makes a false statement with respect to the naturalization, citizenry, or alien registry of such individual in violation of section 1015 of title 18, United States Code, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in accordance with such section |
| NYS Election Law | Articles 1-17 |
| Article 5 Registration & Enrollment of Voters | |
| Eligibility | Title 1 General Provisions § 5–102. Qualifications of voters; age and residence (p117, p151 pdf) 1. No person shall be qualified to register for and vote at any election unless he is a citizen of the United States and is or will be, on the day of such election, eighteen years of age or over, and a resident of this state and of the county, city or village for a minimum of thirty days next preceding such election. |
| Assess Eligibility | Title 2 Registration & enrollment § 5-210. Registration and enrollment and change of enrollment upon application 5. … The form shall include such other information … to enable the board of elections to assess the eligibility of the applicant 12. Whenever the county board of elections is not satisfied … it may order an investigation through any officer or employee of the state or county board of elections, police officer, sheriff or deputy sheriff. 13. An affidavit or a signed statement by any officer … that the applicant did not reside upon such premises … shall be sufficient … that the applicant is not entitled to registration |
| Inactive Status | § 5-213. Inactive status 1. When a voter is sent a confirmation notice pursuant to the provisions of this article, the voter’s name shall be placed in inactive status. |
| Challenges when registering | § 5-218. Registration; challenges 1. Any person who applies for registration may be challenged by any qualified voter, watcher, or inspector of election if such person has reason to suspect that the applicant is not qualified to be registered to vote. |
| Challenges after reg | § 5-220. Registration; challenge after registered 1. Any person may challenge the registration of a voter by … affidavit |
| Records | Title 6 Filing & Custody of Registration Records § 5-600. Registration records; filing of The board of elections shall keep all registration records … records shall be kept in locked ledgers or locked filing cabinets |
| NYS Codes, Rules & Regulations | Title 9 Executive Department |
| Subtitle V. State Board of Elections | |
| Part 6210 – Routine Maintenance and Testing of Voting Systems, Operational Procedures, and Standards for Determining Valid Votes | |
| Procedures | Part 6210.12 – Procedures The county board shall adopt written procedures … All procedures shall be submitted to and approved by the State Board …” |
| Database Regulations | Part 6217 New York State Database Regulations |
| Transaction History | 6217.1 Purpose (d) NYSVoter shall maintain a transaction history of changes made to each voter record, including but not limited to: each change made and reasons therefore; the date and time stamp to record the date of change; the ID of the county board operator and system that updated the record; and a description of the key elements that were changed. |
| Eligibility | 6217.5 Voter registration processing. (a)(1)Qualifications to register to vote: (i) United States citizen; (ii) eighteen years of age or older on election day or will be at least 18 years old not later than December 31st of the calendar year in which he or she registers; and (iii) resident in New York State and of the county, city or village for a minimum of 30 days next preceding such election. |
Responsibility |
(b) “… the county board is responsible for … determining whether the application is complete and whether the applicant meets constitutional and statutory requirements … Procedures … not prescribed … are left to the county boards to establish.” |
| Identity Verification | 6217.6 Voter identification verification (b) … The county board shall deem as verified … a driver’s license renewal or an identification card if such card is issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles … (c) NYSVoter shall compare the NYS DMV driver license or non-driver number, name, date of birth and gender of the voter with the NYS DMV records for verification of the voter’s identification |
| Residency Verification | (silent but existing residency may be changed in 6217.7 Processing voters who move between counties.) |
| Citizenship Verification | (silent) |
| Duplicates | 6217.8 Processing duplicate voters (b) … based upon a match of an applicant’s first three letters of the first name and the first five letters of the last name, date of birth, and, if available, the unique identification number, or the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles driver license or non-driver number or last four digits of the voter’s social security number … |
| Maintenance | 6217.10 Voter registration list changes and list maintenance (a)(2)(ii) … persons … not eligible to vote are removed from such list … |
| Reports | 6217.12 Reports and information queries (a) NYSVoter shall provide to county board operators the ability to: (1) query all records in the database, regardless of county; (2) conduct user-defined searches of voter records; (3) generate pre-defined and ad hoc queries and reports in formats as needed; (4) filter reports based on key data fields contained in the output (e.g., date, county); |
| US Code | TITLE 18 – PART 1 – CHAPTER 29 – ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES |
| Aliens | SECTION 611 – Voting by aliens (a)It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President … (c)Subsection (a) does not apply to an alien if— (3)the alien reasonably believed … that he or she was a citizen of the United States. |
| TITLE 52 – VOTING AND ELECTIONS | |
| Subtitle II—Voting Assistance and Election Administration | |
| Chapter 205 – NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION (see above) | |
| Q&A | NVRA Questions & Answers |
| Responsibility | State Responsibility 5. When a state contracts with a private entity to administer services in an agency that is required to offer voter registration, the ultimate responsibility for ensuring provision of voter registration services remains with the state, and the voter registration requirements under the NVRA remain the same. |
| ID Requirements | Identification Requirement 11. Where a person registers to vote by mail and has not previously voted in a federal election in a State, if the voter does not qualify for one of the exemptions in Section 303(b)(3) of HAVA (described below), then he or she must submit one of the forms of identification required by Section 303(b)(2)(A) of HAVA the first time that he or she votes in a federal election. These forms of identification are: 1) a current and valid photo identification; or 2) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. If the voter does not present the required identification, Section 303(b)(2)(B) of HAVA provides that he or she may nonetheless cast a provisional ballot. |
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