A 5368: Requires that any ballot that is torn, bent, or otherwise damaged or defective shall be identified and set aside for duplication; provides that an election official or a set of witnesses shall examine such ballot to determine the voter's intention and mark up a new ballot marked "duplicate", bearing the same serial number as the damaged or defective ballot; makes related provisions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5368 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 13, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CUNNINGHAM -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to damaged, defective or duplicate ballots The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 8-316 of the election law is amended to read as 2 follows: 3 § 8-316. Ballots; [mutilated or spoiled] damaged, defective or dupli- 4 cative. 1. If a ballot is found to be damaged or defective [or mutilat- 5 ed] before it is delivered to the voter, its stub and the stubs of all 6 other ballots in the set shall be identified, detached immediately, and 7 placed in the box for stubs, by the clerks, or if there are no clerks by 8 the inspector assigned to the duty of delivering ballots, and all the 9 ballots of that set immediately shall be marked "cancelled", and placed 10 in the box for [spoiled and mutilated] damaged or defective ballots. If 11 a voter returns a ballot as damaged, defective, mutilated, defaced, or 12 wrongly marked, [he] such voter shall also return all the other ballots 13 of the set, if any, and such clerks or inspector shall likewise remove 14 their stubs, placing all the stubs in the box for stubs and all the 15 ballots of the set in the box for [spoiled or mutilated] damaged or 16 defective ballots, first marking the ballots "cancelled". In each case, 17 the voter shall receive another ballot or set of ballots, unless not 18 entitled thereto. 19 2. (a) In preparing the voted ballots for processing, any ballot that 20 is torn, bent, or otherwise damaged or defective shall be identified and 21 set aside for duplication. 22 (b) If necessary, a true duplicate copy of the defective ballot shall 23 be made and substituted therefor, by an election official who is part of 24 an official duplication team, or who is accompanied by witnesses. The 25 election official team or set of witnesses shall include members of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06622-01-5 
 A. 5368 2 1 opposing political parties. Such election official shall examine the 2 ballot to determine the intention of the voter insofar as it can be 3 ascertained from the defective ballot. The election official shall copy 4 the voter's choices from the original ballot onto a new ballot. All 5 duplicate ballots shall be clearly labeled "duplicate", and shall bear a 6 serial number that shall be recorded on the damaged or defective ballot, 7 showing which is the duplicate and which is the original ballot. Such 8 two ballots shall be connected and set aside with any other duplicated 9 ballots to be preserved as part of the election record. 10 (c) Once the duplicate ballot is executed, it shall be scanned by the 11 vote tabulation machine. 12 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 13 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.