S. 8806 - New York Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2020

• Requires designated state and local agencies (Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Health, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Department of Labor, county/city social services departments, and NYC Housing Authority) to integrate voter registration applications into their service applications and transmit registration information to the State Board of Elections.

• Mandates that integrated voter registration forms include eligibility statements, attestations under penalty of perjury, citizenship warnings, party enrollment options, and prominent notices that applicants can decline registration with a single checkbox.

• Allows voters to register or pre-register through agency applications using a single signature for both agency and voter registration purposes, with electronic submissions transmitted through a secure electronic voter registration transmittal system.

• Permits the State Board of Elections to register applicants even without an exemplar signature; applicants without signatures may vote by affidavit ballot and have 10 days to submit a signature by mail, email, or electronic upload.

• Provides that ineligible individuals who unintentionally fail to decline registration shall not be criminally liable, shall be deemed officially authorized registrants, and such registration cannot be used as evidence of citizenship claims; effective January 1, 2023.