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A00928 Summary:

BILL NOA00928
 
SAME ASSAME AS S00438
 
SPONSORJacobson
 
COSPNSRPaulin, Eachus, McDonald, Gibbs, Kim, Reyes, Sillitti, Levenberg
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §12-106, El L
 
Requires electors to vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidate who were nominated by the political party that nominated the presidential elector.
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A00928 Actions:

BILL NOA00928
 
01/11/2023referred to election law
06/07/2023reference changed to codes
06/08/2023reported referred to rules
06/08/2023reported
06/08/2023rules report cal.672
06/08/2023substituted by s438
 S00438 AMEND= SKOUFIS
 01/04/2023REFERRED TO ELECTIONS
 03/08/20231ST REPORT CAL.458
 03/09/20232ND REPORT CAL.
 03/13/2023ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
 05/31/2023PASSED SENATE
 05/31/2023DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
 05/31/2023referred to election law
 06/08/2023substituted for a928
 06/08/2023ordered to third reading rules cal.672
 06/08/2023passed assembly
 06/08/2023returned to senate
 09/19/2023DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR
 09/20/2023SIGNED CHAP.476
 01/04/2023REFERRED TO ELECTIONS
 03/08/20231ST REPORT CAL.458
 03/09/20232ND REPORT CAL.
 03/13/2023ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
 05/31/2023PASSED SENATE
 05/31/2023DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
 05/31/2023referred to election law
 06/08/2023substituted for a928
 06/08/2023ordered to third reading rules cal.672
 06/08/2023passed assembly
 06/08/2023returned to senate
 09/19/2023DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR
 09/20/2023SIGNED CHAP.476
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A00928 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A928
 
SPONSOR: Jacobson
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring electors to vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidate who were nomi- nated by the political party that nominated the presidential elector   PURPOSE: To remove the risk that so-called "faithless electors" from New York could impact the outcome of a presidential election   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends section 12-106 of the Election Law to require that each member of the Electoral College from New York must cast his or her ballot for the candidates for president and vice president who were nominated by the political party that nominated the presidential elec- tor. If an elector attempts to vote for a candidate who was not nomi- nated by the political party that nominated the presidential elector, such action will constitute a resignation from the office of elector, and his or her vote will not be recorded. A replacement elector will be immediately selected in accordance with existing provisions in Section 12-104 of the Election Law. Nothing in this subdivision shall be inter- preted as modifying or repealing title four of article twelve of this chapter, the agreement among the states to elect the president by national popular vote. Section 2 sets forth the effective date which is immediately.   JUSTIFICATION: Except for Maine and Nebraska, every state in the country awards 100% of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the high- est number of votes within the state. However, the individuals chosen as members of the Electoral College can and sometimes do vote for a candi- date who did not win the highest number of votes. In the 2016 Presiden- tial election, for example, although Donald Trump won the state of Texas, two electors from Texas cast their votes for other candidates(one for John Kaisch and one for Ron Paul). Likewise, although Hillary Clin- ton won the states of Washington and Hawaii, four electors from Washing- ton, and one from Hawaii voted for other candidates (Colin Powell received three votes, and Bernie Sanders and Faith Spotted Eagle each received one vote). Because of Donald Trump's sizable Electoral College majority, the actions of these "faithless electors" were irrelevant, but in a close election, faithless electors could potentially determine the winner-a deeply concerning idea. These votes by rogue electors are possible because many states, includ- ing New York, do not have any laws in place requiring electors to vote for the candidates to whom they are pledged or the candidates who were nominated by the political party that nominated the presidential elec- tor. This bill would address the issue in New York by requiring members of the Electoral College from our state to cast their ballots for the candidates for president and vice president who were nominated by the political party that nominated the presidential elector. If an elector attempted to vote for a candidate who were not nominated by the poli- tical party that nominated the presidential elector, their vote would not be recorded, and their action would constitute a resignation from the office of elector. A replacement elector would be immediately selected in accordance with existing provisions of the Election Law that cover the resignation or removal of an elector.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2019-2020: A10340-B/S6886-D - Passed Senate; Ordered to Assembly Third Reading Rules Ca1.327 2021-2022: A765-A - Referred to Assembly Election Law Committee S4226 - Referred to Senate Elections Committee   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
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A00928 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                           928
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 11, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON, PAULIN -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Election Law
 
        AN  ACT  to amend the election law, in relation to requiring electors to
          vote for the presidential and vice  presidential  candidate  who  were
          nominated by the political party that nominated the presidential elec-
          tor

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 12-106 of the election law is amended  to  read  as
     2  follows:
     3    §  12-106. Electoral college; vote of the electors.  Immediately after
     4  the organization of the electoral college, the electors shall  then  and
     5  there  vote  by  ballot for president and vice president, but no elector
     6  shall vote for more than one person who is a  resident  of  this  state.
     7  They  shall  name in separate ballots the persons voted for as president
     8  and vice president. They shall make and sign six certificates of all the
     9  votes given by them,  each  of  which  certificates  shall  contain  two
    10  distinct  lists, one with the votes for president and one with the votes
    11  for vice president. There shall be annexed to each of  the  certificates
    12  one  of the lists of electors which shall have been furnished to them by
    13  the state board of elections. They shall seal  up  the  certificates  so
    14  made and certify upon each that the lists of all the votes of this state
    15  given for president and vice president are contained therein.
    16    Notwithstanding  any  other  section of law besides title four of this
    17  article, each elector shall cast his or her  ballot  for  president  and
    18  vice  president  for the candidates for these offices who were nominated
    19  by the political party that nominated the presidential elector.  Refusal
    20  or  failure  to vote for the candidates for president and vice president
    21  who were nominated by the political party that nominated  the  presiden-
    22  tial  elector shall constitute a resignation from the office of elector,
    23  and any such vote by an elector shall not be recorded. The ballots  used
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02191-01-3

        A. 928                              2
 
     1  by  the  elector shall bear the name of the elector. The remaining elec-
     2  tors shall forthwith fill the vacancy in accordance with section  12-104
     3  of this title. Nothing in this subdivision shall be interpreted as modi-
     4  fying  or  repealing title four of this article, the agreement among the
     5  states to elect the president by national popular vote.
     6    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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