S 4602 New York Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Provides remedies for disrupted elections

This bill requires election boards to extend voting time at affected polling places or districts if voting is disrupted for over 15 consecutive minutes. If disruptions occur, the board must toll the voting clock during the delay and extend voting time proportionally afterward, or schedule additional voting on the next available day if same-day extension is impractical. The board must also publicly notify voters, candidates, media, and community groups about the extended hours through multiple communication channels. This directly affects voters at disrupted locations, election officials managing polling operations, and candidates needing to coordinate with affected districts.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Jun 2026

Senate Passage

Jun 2026

Assembly Passage

Jun 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 10, 2025 Last action Jun 4, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

S4602A → S4602B · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill significantly raises the threshold for triggering emergency voting extensions from 15 minutes to one hour and removes the requirement to extend voting time for election districts that were not directly impacted by the disruption. It also adds new requirements to publicly notify voters and candidates about these extensions via websites and media channels.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed regarding which locations receive extended voting time; previously, all impacted polling places and election districts received extensions, but now only the specific polling places where the disruption occurred are eligible for the remedy.

TIMELINE

The minimum duration of voting disruption required to trigger an automatic extension of voting hours increased from fifteen consecutive minutes to one hour.

ELIGIBILITY

The requirement to extend voting time for 'impacted election districts' was removed; the remedy now applies only to the specific polling places where the disruption physically occurred.

REQUIREMENT

New mandatory provisions require the Board of Elections to publicly announce extended voting hours through websites, media outlets, and direct notifications to candidates and their agents.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'disruption' was simplified to focus on obstructions preventing voters from voting for over one hour, removing the specific reference to 'variations thereof' and 'no voting is occurring'.

Floor votes · Senate Jun 4, 2026 · Assembly Jun 4, 2026

How they voted

38–22

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 63

Jun 4, 2026

D Democratic41

38 Yea 3

92% Yea

R Republican22

22 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

PASSED ASSEMBLY

lower

Jun 4, 2026

Committee

REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS

lower

Jun 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

PASSED SENATE

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES

upper

Jun 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

PRINT NUMBER 4602B

upper

Jun 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO FINANCE

upper

May 20, 2026

Committee

REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

upper

Jan 7, 2026

Committee

REFERRED TO ELECTIONS

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

PRINT NUMBER 4602A

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO ELECTIONS

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

REFERRED TO ELECTIONS

upper

1 primary · 22 co-sponsors