Int 0450-1998

Int. No. 450 By Council Member Miller A LOCAL LAW To amend the charter of the city of New York to establish a system of staff assisted voter registration of citizens entering into contact with city agencies and to distribute voter registration forms in tax packets. Be it enacted by the Council as follows: Section 1. Chapter forty-six of the charter of the city of New York is hereby amended to add a new section 1058 to read as follows: §1058. Agency based voter registration. Each agency designated as a participating agency under the provisions of this section shall implement and administer a program of distribution of voter registration forms pursuant to the provisions of this section. The following offices are hereby designated as participating voter registration agencies: The administration for children's services, the civilian complaint review board, the commission on human rights, the department for the aging, the department of business services, the department of citywide administrative services, the department of consumer affairs, the department of correction, the department of employment, the department of finance, the department of health, the department of homeless services, the department of housing preservation and development, the department of mental health, the department of parks and recreation, the department of personnel, the police department, the department of probation, the department of transportation, the department of youth and community development and such other agencies as may be designated by the New York city voter assistance commission. Participating agencies shall include agencies or programs that are under subcontract to provide services by the aforementioned agencies. Agencies shall include a mandate in all new or renewed agreements with those subcontractors having regular contact with the public in the daily administration of their business to follow the guidelines of this section. Such agencies shall be required to offer voter registration forms to all persons upon application for services, renewal or recertification for services and change of address relating to such services. Such agencies shall also be responsible for providing assistance to applicants in completing voter registration forms, receiving and transmitting the completed application form from all applicants who wish to have such form transmitted to the New York City board of elections. 1. The New York city voter assistance commission shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the requirements of this section and shall prepare and distribute to participating agencies written instructions as to the implementation of the program and shall be responsible for establishing training programs for employees of participating agencies involved in such program. 2. Participating agencies shall provide voter registration forms to all persons upon application for services, renewal or recertification for services and change of address relating to such services. Participating agencies shall also include a voter registration form with any agency communication sent through the United States mail for the purpose of supplying clients with application, renewal or recertification for services and change of address relating to such services materials. Participating agencies shall also develop guidelines, in consultation with the New York city voter assistance commission, which require agency staff to verbally inquire whether clients wish to be sent a voter registration application if the agency adopts procedures which allow for the application for services, renewal or recertification for services and change of address relating to such services to be conducted over the phone. Participating agencies shall also incorporate the request for a voter registration application into any application for services, renewal or recertification for services and change of address relating to such services provided on computer terminals, the World Wide Web or the Internet. 3. Participating agencies shall also: a. at the earliest possible or next regularly scheduled printing of their forms, physically incorporate the voter registration forms with their own application forms in a manner that permits the voter registration portion to be detached therefrom. Until such time when the agency amends its form, each agency should affix or include a postage paid New York city board of elections voter registration form to or with its application, renewal, recertification and change of address forms; b. use New York city board of elections coded voter registration forms which designate such forms as originating from participating agencies: c. collect and transmit completed forms to the New York City board of elections on a bi-weekly basis. Completed forms shall also be transmitted to the New York city board of elections on the last day of registration designated by New York state election law for citywide primary, special and general elections; and d. require agency staff to attend a voter registration training program organized by the New York city voter assistance commission; 4. Agencies shall forward to the coordinator of the voter assistance commission on a bi-monthly basis the total number of voter registration forms distributed to the public and the total number of voter registration applications collected. 5. Strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment shall be maintained and all persons seeking voter registration forms and information shall be advised that government services are not conditioned on being registered to vote. No statement shall be made nor any action taken to discourage the applicant from registering to vote. 6. If a participating agency provides services to a person with a disability at the person's place of residence, the agency shall offer the opportunity to complete a voter registration form at such place of residence. 7. Each participating agency shall provide to each applicant who does not decline to register to vote the same degree of assistance with regard to the completion of its own form unless the applicant refuses such assistance. Such assistance shall include, but not be limited to, verbally answering applicants questions and providing written materials. 8. Employees of a voter registration agency who provide voter registration assistance shall not: a. seek to influence an applicant's political preference or party designation; b. display any political preference or party allegiance; c. make any statement to an applicant or take any action the purpose or effect of which is to discourage the applicant from registering to vote; or d. make any statement to an applicant or take any action the purpose or effect of which is to lead the applicant to believe that a decision to register or not to register has any bearing on the availability of services or benefits. 9. Each participating agency, department, division and office that makes available voter registration forms shall prominently display promotional materials designed and approved by the New York city or state board of elections for use in state agency programs. 10. The New York city department of finance shall distribute a voter registration form in each tax packet mailed to city residents in each year that citywide elections are held for the office of member of the city council; in each year that citywide elections are held for mayor; and in each year that statewide elections are held for governor. §2. This local law shall take effect ninety days after its enactment DBS:ml LS# 970LAWVOTER 9/22/98 1 10