Int. No. 441-A
By Council Member Stevens, Restler, Zhuang, Schulman, Menin, Salaam, Marte, Hanif, Won, Bottcher, Gennaro, Cabán, Williams, Narcisse, Banks, Louis, Avilés, Joseph, Brooks-Powers, Dinowitz, Gutiérrez, Mealy and Marmorato
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of education to provide students with coded voter registration forms and related materials
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Section 3-209 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law number 34 for the year 2004, is amended to read as follows:
§ 3-209 Young adult voter registration.
a. Short title. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Young Adult Voter Registration Act.”
b. [Registration of voters.] Coded voter registration forms. The department of education of the city of New York shall request from the board of elections of the city of New York: (i) voter registration forms containing a code corresponding to the such department of education; and (ii) written materials about different methods of voting and the use of ballot marking devices. Such forms and materials shall be accessible to persons with disabilities, and be in printed form or in a format that allows a person to print such forms or materials.
c. Provision of voter registration materials to students and graduates. 1. Each public or private high school within the city shall [make available] distribute during the school year to seniors such materials as may be published by the board of elections relating to voter registration and, where appropriate, shall provide [applications for registration and enrollment, and may assist in the execution of such applications] coded voter registration forms and the written materials described in subdivision b of this section.
[c. Registration of graduating seniors.] 2. The city department of education [of the city of New York] shall provide a postage paid [board of elections of the city of New York] coded voter registration form as described in subdivision b to each graduating student who receives a high school diploma, including but not limited to a Regents, local, general equivalency or Individualized Education Program diploma. The department shall deliver such voter registration form to each graduating student [at the same time and in the same manner as] no later than the date on which it delivers diplomas to each such student.
[d. Forms to be available at school.] 3. The city department of education [of the city of New York] shall ensure that postage paid [board of elections] coded voter registration forms as described in subdivision b of this section are available in the main or central office of each high school under the jurisdiction of the department for students who wish to obtain one. The department shall also ensure that each such high school provides adequate notice to its students of the availability of such forms in its main or central office, and that each such high school makes available information regarding different methods of voting and about the use of ballot marking devices.
[e. Sufficient quantity of forms.] 4. The city department of education shall request from the city board of elections [of the city of New York] a sufficient quantity of voter registration forms to meet the requirements of this subdivision.
d. Reporting. The city department of education shall include, in each report required pursuant to subdivision b of section 522 of the New York city charter, information about steps such department has taken to comply with this section. Such report shall include information about the manner in which the department distributed or made available voter registration materials to students.
§ 2. This local law takes effect September 1, 2026.
Session 13
AV/JG/JMF
LS #8676
11/17/24 9:23 PM
Session 12
AV
LS #8676
4/7/22