NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9235
SPONSOR: Slater TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to removing the preclear-
ance requirement from certain counties
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Removes the preclearance requirement from certain counties
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Removes part C from subdivision 3 of section 17-210 of the election law
which requires 'preclearance for counties with a felony arrest rate of
protected classes twenty percentage points above the population of
protected classes in the county.
JUSTIFICATION:
There is no established correlation between arrest rates and the ability
to effectively and efficiently administer an election within the county
level. Counties should have the ability to run their own election with-
out the unnecessary oversight from the partisan attorney general's
office. County Board of election already have a built-in regulation
mechanism by having two commissioners, one from each major party. Coun-
ties should be able to make decisions for themselves, such as polling
place relocations. Which under the current law would have to be approved
by the attorney general if such county requires preclearance. The arrest
rates of a given county should have zero impact on how that county runs
its elections.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9235
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
November 7, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SLATER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to removing the preclear-
ance requirement from certain counties
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 17-210 of the election law, as
2 amended by chapter 216 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 3. Covered entity. A "covered entity" shall include: (a) any political
5 subdivision which, within the previous twenty-five years, has become
6 subject to a court order or government enforcement action based upon a
7 finding of any violation of this title, the federal voting rights act,
8 the fifteenth amendment to the United States constitution, or a voting-
9 related violation of the fourteenth amendment to the United States
10 constitution; (b) any political subdivision which, within the previous
11 twenty-five years, has become subject to at least three court orders or
12 government enforcement actions based upon a finding of any violation of
13 any state or federal civil rights law or the fourteenth amendment to the
14 United States constitution concerning discrimination against members of
15 a protected class; (c) [any county in which, based on data provided by
16 the division of criminal justice services, the combined misdemeanor and
17 felony arrest rate of voting age members of any protected class consist-
18 ing of at least ten thousand citizens of voting age or whose members
19 comprise at least ten percent of the citizen voting age population of
20 the county, exceeds the proportion that the protected class constitutes
21 of the citizen voting age population of the county as a whole by at
22 least twenty percentage points at any point within the previous ten
23 years; (d)] any political subdivision in which, based on data made
24 available by the United States census, the dissimilarity index of any
25 protected class consisting of at least twenty-five thousand citizens of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13674-01-5
A. 9235 2
1 voting age or whose members comprise at least ten percent of the citizen
2 voting age population of the political subdivision, is in excess of
3 fifty with respect to non-Hispanic white individuals within the poli-
4 tical subdivision at any point within the previous ten years; [(e)] (d)
5 any political subdivision in which a board of elections has been estab-
6 lished, if such political subdivision contains a covered entity fully
7 within its borders; or [(f)] (e) any board of elections that has been
8 established in a political subdivision that is a covered entity pursuant
9 to paragraph (a), (b), (c), or (d) [or (e)] of this subdivision.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
