S 1669: Allows any qualified person to apply for voter registration and enrollment by application made with an application for any hunting or fishing license.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1669 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 13, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. WALCZYK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the registration and enrollment of voters The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new section 5-217 2 to read as follows: 3 § 5-217. Additional registration. 1. In addition to any other method 4 of voter registration provided for in this article, any qualified person 5 may apply for registration and enrollment by application made simultane- 6 ously and integrated with an application for any type of hunting 7 license, a fishing license, and any combination of both. 8 2. The department of environmental conservation, with the approval of 9 the state board of elections, shall design a form or forms which shall, 10 in addition to eliciting such information as may be required by the 11 department of environmental conservation for a hunting license and/or 12 fishing license, serve as an application for registration and enroll- 13 ment, or a registration necessitated by a change of residence. The cost 14 of such forms shall be borne by the department of environmental conser- 15 vation. 16 3. The voter registration portion of such forms shall: 17 (a) not require any information that duplicates the information 18 required on the application for the license portion and shall require 19 only such additional information, including the applicant's signature, 20 as will enable election officials to assess the applicant's eligibility 21 to register to vote, prevent duplicate registration and to administer 22 voter registration and other parts of the election process; 23 (b) include a statement of the eligibility requirements for voter 24 registration and shall require the applicant to attest by their signa- 25 ture that they meet such requirements under penalty of perjury; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02252-01-5 
 S. 1669 2 1 (c) inform the applicant, in print identical to that used in the 2 attestation section of the following: 3 (i) voter eligibility requirements; 4 (ii) penalties for submission of false registration application; 5 (iii) that the office where the applicant registers shall remain 6 confidential and the information shall be used only for voter registra- 7 tion purposes; 8 (iv) if the applicant declines to register, their declination shall 9 remain confidential and be used only for voter registration purposes. 10 4. Included on the form or on a separate form shall be: 11 (a) the question, "If you are not registered to vote where you live 12 now, would you like to apply to register here today"; 13 (b) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the applicant 14 would like to register or decline to register to vote; 15 (c) the statement in prominent type, "IF YOU DO NOT CHECK EITHER BOX, 16 YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED TO HAVE DECIDED NOT TO REGISTER TO VOTE AT THIS 17 TIME."; 18 (d) the statement, "If you would like help in filling out the voter 19 registration application form, we will help you. The decision whether to 20 seek or accept help is yours. You may fill out the application form in 21 private."; 22 (e) the statement, "If you believe that someone has interfered with 23 your right to register or decline to register to vote, your right to 24 privacy in deciding whether to register or in applying to register to 25 vote, or your right to choose your own political party or other poli- 26 tical preference, you may file a complaint with the state board of 27 elections (address and toll free telephone number)."; and 28 (f) a toll free number at the state board of elections that can be 29 called for answers to registration questions. 30 5. The form containing the declination to register to vote shall be 31 retained by the department of environmental conservation for the same 32 period of time as such department retains the accompanying application 33 for services or for such shorter period of time as may be approved by 34 the state board of elections. 35 6. The department of environmental conservation shall transmit that 36 portion of the form which constitutes the completed application for 37 registration or change of address form to the appropriate board of 38 elections not later than ten days after receipt except that all such 39 completed applications and forms received by the department of environ- 40 mental conservation between the thirtieth and twenty-fifth day before an 41 election shall be transmitted in such manner and at such time as to 42 assure their receipt by such board of elections not later than the twen- 43 tieth day before such election. All transmittals shall include original 44 signatures. 45 7. Completed application forms received by the department of environ- 46 mental conservation not later than the twenty-fifth day before the next 47 ensuing primary, general or special election and transmitted by such 48 department to the appropriate board of elections so that they are 49 received not later than the twentieth day before such election shall 50 entitle the applicant to vote in such election provided the board deter- 51 mines that the applicant is otherwise qualified. 52 8. Disclosure of voter registration information, including a declina- 53 tion to register, by the department of environmental conservation, its 54 agents or employees, for other than voter registration purposes, shall 55 be deemed an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy pursuant to the 
 S. 1669 3 1 provisions of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of the public offi- 2 cers law and shall constitute a violation of this chapter. 3 9. Application forms shall be processed by the board of elections in 4 the manner prescribed by section 5-210 of this title or, if the appli- 5 cant is already registered to vote from another address in such county 6 or city, in the manner prescribed by section 5-208 of this title. The 7 board shall send the appropriate notice of approval or rejection as 8 required by either subdivision nine of such section 5-210 or subdivision 9 five of such section 5-208. 10 10. Strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment 11 shall be maintained and all persons seeking voter registration forms and 12 information shall be advised that government services are not condi- 13 tioned on being registered to vote. 14 11. No statement shall be made nor any action taken to discourage the 15 applicant from registering to vote. 16 12. The department of environmental conservation shall provide to each 17 person who chooses to register to vote the same level of assistance 18 provided to persons in connection with the completion of the agency's 19 own forms, unless such person refuses such assistance. 20 13. The state board of elections shall adopt such rules and regu- 21 lations as may be necessary to carry out the requirements of this 22 section. The board shall also adopt such rules and regulations as may be 23 necessary to require county boards and the department of environmental 24 conservation to provide the state board with such information and data 25 as the board deems necessary to assess compliance with this section and 26 to compile such statistics as may be required by the federal elections 27 commission. 28 14. The state board of elections shall develop and distribute public 29 information and promotional materials relating to the purposes and 30 implementation of this program. 31 15. The state board of elections shall prepare and distribute to the 32 department of environmental conservation written instructions as to the 33 implementation of the program and shall be responsible for establishing 34 training programs for employees of the department of environmental 35 conservation involved in such program. 36 16. The commissioner of environmental conservation shall take all 37 actions which are necessary and proper for the implementation of this 38 section. The commissioner of environmental conservation shall designate 39 one person within the agency as the agency voter registration coordina- 40 tor who will, under the direction of the state board of elections, be 41 responsible for the voter registration program in such agency. 42 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 43 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 44 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 45 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 46 completed on or before such effective date.