Public Awareness
Bulletins - Summer 2010 OPDV Bulletin
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Legislative Update
The Governor has signed into law two bills that amend New York State’s election law. The first bill amends a 1996 law that permitted victims of domestic violence to vote by special absentee ballot. This allowed victims to vote without having to go to a neighborhood polling place, where an abuser could easily find them. The new 2010 amendment expands the original requirement that a victim must have left the original residence due to threats of physical harm, to now include threats of emotional harm. The new law also expands eligibility by adopting a variation on New York’s definition of family or household member, including intimate partners. Chapter 38 www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A03910%09%09&Text=Y
The second bill allows a domestic violence victim to apply to the Supreme Court in the county where she lives, for a court order requiring the County Board of Elections to keep her registration information separate and not available to the public. This prevents a stalker or abuser from obtaining her residential address. Victims of a family offense or violent felony, where the act resulted in emotional or physical injury, or the substantial risk of emotional or physical harm, are eligible, if they meet the definition of family/household member. Chapter 73 www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=%0D%0A&bn=s5945%09%09&Text=Y
