§ 6212.9. Registration poll list

(a) For each election, a registration poll list shall be prepared in alphabetical order for each election district which shall include the name and other information required by the law and these regulations relating to each voter eligible to vote in that district in that election. The pages of the list shall be bound or fastened so that all pages are securely held together and the list shall be identified as an official document of the county board.

(b) For each individual voter, the following information shall be in the registration poll list:

(1) name;

(2) street address;

(3) date of birth;

(4) [height;

(5) eye color;

(6) ]party enrollment;

[(7)](5) month, day and year of registration;

[(8)](6) facsimile of the voter's signature printed or an indication that the voter is unable to sign his name;

[(9)](7) a place for the voter to sign his name or to make his mark in the event he is unable to sign his name; and

[(10)](8) a place for the inspector to record the [voting machine number, the public county number and the] number appearing on the stub of any election day paper ballot[s] given to the voter.

(c) Each page of the registration poll list shall contain:

(1) The number of the election district, assembly district, legislative district, town, ward, etc. in which such election district is located.

(2) Date of the election for which the list is prepared.

(3) Page number. The last page of the list shall be so marked.

(4) Range of names listed on that page.

(d) Prior to the first election in which a registration poll list is used to replace the registration poll ledger, the State Board shall review and approve the content, format and layout of the registration poll list, as well as the adequacy of the facsimile signatures included in it. For that purpose, the county board shall submit a specimen registration poll list containing the records of at least 500 voters. At the same time, the county board shall certify to the State Board that the verification of the file required by section 6212.8(f) of this Part has been performed.

(e) Registration poll lists shall be preserved in secure storage by the board until the end of the [fourth] second calendar year following the election in which they were used.

1. Statutory Authority:

Election Law sections 3-100; and 8-312(6), 9-102(1) and 9-106

2. Legislative Objectives:

In 2010, the Legislature amended the NYS Election Law to accommodate the transition to optical scan voting systems (Chapters 163, 164 and 165 of the Laws of 2010). Under the new system, which was entirely paper based, the election day paper ballot became the key to the entire election process and there was need to establish ballot accountability which the Legislature mandated in changes to Election Law 9-106 after defining what an election day paper ballot was in 9-102(1). The Legislature, in amending Election Law 8-312(6) had in 2009 (Chapter 464) tasked the State Board of Elections with the task of establishing rules and regulations governing the manner in which ballots in the optical scan system are to be delivered to the voter. The primary means of identifying voters is the use of the signature in the poll book pursuant to Election Law 8-304 to match against the signature of the person claiming, on election day, to be that voter. The Elections Law contains no requirement that the voter's height and eye color be recorded and the current voter registration form contains no space to record that information since the amendment to Election Law 5-210(5)(k)(v) (Chapter 659 of the Laws of 1994) to comply with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

3. Needs and Benefits:

The proposed adjustments in adopted rules have been prepared while taking into consideration the statutory objectives and balancing the impact of the statute and these regulations on county boards of elections against the need for the constant affirmation of accuracy and accountability in order to maintain public confidence. They continue to ensure that the rules accurately reflect the technical and functional requirements of the new voting system. Also, while balancing the statutory requirement to establish such rules as to the delivery of election day paper ballots to the voter, this change provides a simple method of ballot accountability. The elimination of long ago abandoned statutory requirements and the lessening of the record retention period will reduce the expense and workload of the county boards of elections.

4. Costs:

There is no cost to the changes made herein and in fact there is a cost savings in terms of the retention of election records.

5. Local Governmental Mandates:

These adjusted procedures as to the elimination of the recording of height and eye color are consistent with long-standing county board of elections practices and the recording of the election day ballot stub number is consistent the existing regulation and the new statutory definition of an election day paper ballot.

6. Paperwork:

These adjusted procedures do not reduce, increase, or modify compliance with paperwork or preparation of forms and will adjust the rules to accurately reflect the technical and functional requirements of the new voting system.

7. Duplication:

These regulations do not duplicate or overlap with any other federal or state regulations.

8. Alternatives:

The alternatives were to continue with an outdated and not longer statutorily required information gathering and record retention mandates, which simply were not viable options.

9. Federal Standards:

42 USC § 1794 is the statutory authorization for the Retention of voting records (twenty two months after the date of the election).

10. Compliance Schedules:

Compliance can be achieved by the county board of elections immediately after adoption.

1. Effect of Rule:

There are 58 local boards of elections which must meet these requirements.

2. Compliance Requirements:

County boards of elections will be governed these standards for the elimination of unnecessary recording of no longer statutorily mandated information, a shortened record retention period and proper nomenclature for the election day ballot.

3. Professional Services:

The county boards of elections and/or their designated staff will be able to develop and implement the requirements of the NYS Election Law and these regulations.

4. Compliance Costs:

As this change reduces the burden upon counties, there will be a cost savings.

5. Economic and Technological Feasibility:

County boards of elections currently comply with the existing, more onerous regulation so compliance with a less onerous regulation will be simple.

6. Minimizing Adverse Effect:

Public trust in our elections is fundamental to governmental effectiveness. These draft proposed regulations have been prepared while taking into considerations the statutory obligations and balancing the impact of the statute and these regulations on county boards of elections against the need for the constant affirmation of accuracy in order to maintain voter confidence. The adjustment to the adopted rule will continue a normal business process and have no adverse effect on the local boards of elections that are impacted.

7. Small Business and Local Government Participation:

The State Board has had discussions with county commissioners to obtain their opinions and suggestions during the preparation of these draft regulations. Also, the county election commissioners and the public will have the opportunity to comment further on these regulations prior to final adoption.

The adjustment to the adopted rule will require that county boards of elections in jurisdictions from rural areas of New York State will be governed by these standards for recording information as to the voter given an election day ballot in the voter registration poll list and receive the benefit of the reduced record retention time the new regulation provides.

These draft proposed regulations have been prepared while taking into consideration the statutory obligations and balancing the impact of the statute and these regulations on county boards of election against the need for the constant affirmation of accuracy in order to maintain voter confidence. Public trust in our elections is fundamental to governmental effectiveness. The adjustment to the adopted rule will continue a normal business process as most county boards have not been recording the voter's height and eye color and will clarify a new and relatively simple procedure, the recording of the election day ballot's stub number, to ensure accurate ballot accountability. The reduction for the record retention period from four to two years will benefit all counties as will the elimination of the requirement to record the voter's height and eye color, items that are no longer statutorily required.. These regulatory changes will have no adverse effect on the local boards of elections that are impacted.

These regulations neither create nor eliminate employment positions and/or opportunities, and, therefore, have no adverse impact on employment opportunities in New York State. Amendments to the adopted regulation do not change this analysis.