NY A00296

Designates boards of elections as public bodies subject to open meetings requirements under the Public Officers Law.

Requires county boards of elections to publish notices at least 30 days before elections specifying election dates, hours, offices, registration deadlines, early voting dates, polling place locations with accessibility information, and sample ballots in all major languages.

Allows any registered voter in a county to vote at any polling place within that county, with boards of elections required to have sufficient ballots for each election district at all locations.

Mandates posting of election results tapes publicly outside guard rails where the public can view, photograph, and video them, with results released by election district broken down by ballot type (election day, early, absentee, military, provisional) in spreadsheet format.

Expands poll watcher rights by allowing the Committee on Open Government to appoint qualified applicants as watchers at polling places and canvassing boards, subject to reasonable space and logistical limits, with partisan affiliation not a valid disqualification criterion.