Watchdog Supports A5934-A (Cunningham) / S6169-A (Cleare) – Voting Integrity and Verification Act of New York (VIVA NY)
TITLE OF BILL
The Voting Integrity and Verification Act of New York.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS
Section 1 states the name of the bill.
Section 2 adds new subdivisions 40 and 41 to Election Law §1-104 to define “nontabulating ballot marking device” and “human readable paper ballot.”
Section 3 amends Election Law §7-104 subdivision 26 to provide that each voter is entitled to use an “individual, voter verifiable paper ballot” and may mark it privately or independently. The section then defines “individual, voter verifiable paper ballot.”
Section 4 amends Election Law §7-106 subdivision 3 to provide that paper ballots in each election district shall be identical.
Section 5 states the effective date.
STATEMENT OF SUPPORT
Reinvent Albany supports this bill. We believe it can help New Yorkers vote more safely and securely by guaranteeing them the option of using hand-marked paper ballots, a secure voting method. Recently, some election boards in NY have approved the purchase of hybrid voting machines that allow ballots to be marked and scanned on a single device, which election experts say is a major security risk. New Yorkers deserve the option to use a hand-marked ballot to ensure all of our votes will be counted.
We urge the Legislature to pass the bill.