← All billsInt 0180-2022
Designation and usage of public libraries as polling places.
IntroductionFiledCommittee on Governmental Operationsintroduced 2022-04-14
Filed — closed without being enacted.
Official record · Legistar
Agenda: 2022-04-14Passed: 2023-12-31
Summary
This bill would require the New York City Board of Elections (“BOE”) to establish all eligible public libraries within the New York Public Library system, Brooklyn Public Library system, and Queens Public Library system as polling places for general elections, both on Election Day and during the early voting period preceding a general election. Eligibility would be determined by current legal requirements as set forth in state election law, as well as through a consultation by the BOE with the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, or Queens Public Library as to the permissibility of using each public library within each respective system. The proposed legislation would also require the BOE to issue a report to the Council on the use of public libraries as polling places following each general election.
Committee on Governmental Operations — Municipal governmental structure and organization, Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, Community Boards, Tax Commission, Board of Standards and Appeals, Campaign Finance Board, Board of Elections, Voter Assistance Commission, Commission on Public Information and Communication, Department of Records and Information Services, Financial Information Services Agency and Law Department.
How it compares
22% of similar bills passed
11 passed · 39 died
This bill: 626 days in committee
Similar bills: median 698 days · 621 days when passed
Compared against 50 Introduction bills in Committee on Governmental Operations.
Ranked by how closely each matches this bill's topic — closest first:
+ 44 more comparable bills
Sponsors (14)
Lifecycle
IntroducedIntroduced by Council
2022-04-14 · City Council
ActionReferred to Comm by Council
2022-04-14 · City Council
ClosedFiled (End of Session)
2023-12-31 · City Council
Heard at (1)
City Council · 2022-04-14 · 1:30 PM · HYBRID HEARING - Council Chambers - City Hall
Attachments (5)
Full text
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 46 of the New York city charter is amended by adding a new section 1057-h to read as follows:
� 1057-h Usage of public libraries as polling places. a. Where permitted by section 4-104 of the election law, the board of elections in the city of New York, in consultation with the New York Public Library system, Brooklyn Public Library system, and Queens Public Library system, shall designate every public library as a polling place for any general election, including during the early voting period for such general election. Such designation and usage of permissible public libraries as polling places shall be made in addition to the designation and usage of any other site which the board of elections in the city of New York has previously designated as a polling place for any general election and early voting period for such general election. Refusal by the board of elections in the city of New York to designate a public library as a polling place may not be based on the library's proximity to an existing polling place.
b. Report. No later than 60 days following the completion of a general election, the board of elections in the city of New York shall submit a report to the speaker of the council on the use of public libraries as polling places. Such report shall include the following information:
1. A complete list of the public libraries in the New York Public Library system, Brooklyn Public Library system, and Queens Public Library system, and whether each such library was designated as a polling place for the preceding general election or the early voting period for such general election;
2. The criteria used to determine the permissibility of public libraries as polling places for a general election and early voting period for a general election; and
3. The reasoning used in each decision not to designate a public library as a polling place for a general election or early voting period for a general election.
� 2. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law.
Session 12
CP
LS #1960
1/12/2022 2:58 PM
Session 11
CP
LS #9082
1
2