S 10662: Prohibits a board of elections employee or election commissioner from being employed by or controlling any political action committee that is organized for the purpose of any election administered by the board at which such employee is employed or which such commissioner oversees.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10662  IN SENATE July 15, 2026 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to conflicts of interest of boards of elections employees and election commissioners The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 3-304 of election law, as added by chapter 639 of 2 the laws of 2024, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 105 of the laws of 3 2025, is amended to read as follows: 4 § 3-304. Board employees and commissioners; conflicts of interest. 1. 5 As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following 6 meanings: 7 (a) "Board of elections employee" shall mean any person directly 8 compensated with wages or salary by a board of elections for their full- 9 time or part-time work, excluding election inspectors, poll clerks, and 10 election coordinators compensated solely for their work at a general, 11 primary, or special election. 12 (b) "Election commissioner" shall mean as provided in subdivision two 13 of section 3-200 of this article. 14 (c) "Political action committee" shall mean as defined in subdivision 15 sixteen of section 14-100 of this chapter. 16 (d) "Operational control" shall mean actual and strategic control over 17 the day-to-day affairs of a political action committee. 18 2. No board of elections employee shall engage in or participate in 19 any trade or business which creates, or may tend to create, an actual or 20 potential conflict of interest. No board of elections employee shall 21 maintain a direct financial interest in or be employed by a vendor or a 22 company providing services to a candidate who has an election overseen 23 by such employee's office, including but not limited to, printing compa- 24 nies, election consulting companies, direct mail companies and digital 25 marketing companies. No board of elections employee shall maintain a 26 direct financial interest in or be employed by a vendor or company that 27 sells to the board voting machines, electronic poll books, printers or 28 other technical or electronic equipment. A violation of any of the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15824-01-6 
 S. 10662 2 1 provisions of this subdivision shall be cause for discipline by the 2 board of elections, including removal of the board of elections employ- 3 ee. 4 [2] 3. No board of elections employee shall remain on the board of 5 elections payroll while also a candidate for an office who has an 6 election overseen by the board at which they are employed, without prior 7 authorization by a majority vote of the board of elections commissioners 8 and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the state board. 9 (a) The state board shall promulgate rules and regulations relating to 10 the circumstances that may permit a board of elections to authorize an 11 employee who is also a candidate for an office who has an election over- 12 seen by the board at which they are employed to remain employed, 13 provided that such employee be restricted from working on matters 14 directly related to the election in the jurisdiction in which the 15 employee is a candidate and any other restrictions set forth by state 16 board rules and regulations. 17 (b) For the purposes of this article, a board of elections employee 18 shall be deemed a candidate for elective office upon the filing of a 19 designating or nominating petition for such office or, where nominations 20 for such office are made other than by petition, upon acceptance of a 21 nomination. Such employee may remain in "leave without pay" status until 22 such time as their candidacy shall cease, or upon the day following the 23 certification of election results for such office, whichever comes 24 first. 25 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, when there are no 26 primary elections for the office being sought by a candidate that is 27 employed by the board of elections, that candidate may remain on the 28 board of elections payroll for no more than ninety days prior to a 29 general election. 30 (d) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to unpaid party 31 positions. 32 [3.] 4. (a) No board of elections employee or election commissioner 33 shall form, be employed by, or exert operational control over any poli- 34 tical action committee that is organized for the purpose of, or that 35 registers, files, or makes expenditures in connection with, any election 36 administered in whole or in part by the board at which such employee is 37 employed or which such commissioner oversees. 38 (b) An employee or commissioner who did not know and could not reason- 39 ably have known of such registration, filing, or expenditure at the time 40 of such employee or commissioner's formation, employment, or exertion of 41 operational control over such political action committee shall not be 42 deemed in violation of this section, but shall divest such involvement 43 within thirty days of obtaining knowledge thereof. 44 (c) A violation of any of the provisions of this subdivision shall be 45 cause for discipline by the board of elections, including removal of the 46 board of elections employee pursuant to section 3-300 of this title, or 47 removal of the election commissioner pursuant to section 3-200 of this 48 article as applicable. 49 5. It shall not be considered a conflict of interest for a board of 50 elections employee who is a member of a county committee as defined in 51 section 2-104 of this chapter, a district leader as outlined in section 52 2-110 of this chapter, a member of the state committee as described in 53 section 2-102 of this chapter, a delegate or an alternate delegate to 54 judicial district nominating conventions as described in section 6-124 55 of this chapter, or a delegate or an alternate delegate to national 56 party conventions as described in section 2-122 of this chapter who, as 
 S. 10662 3 1 part of their duties in said party position, endorses or supports a 2 candidate for a party position or public office. 3 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 4 have become a law.