S657

The New York State Senate passed legislation establishing a centralized election data institute at SUNY and CUNY, with a 43-17 vote largely along party lines. Senate Print 657, sponsored by Sen. Myrie, would consolidate fragmented election data currently scattered across local boards of elections, school districts, and special districts into a single nonpartisan repository. Myrie argued the institute would relieve local election boards from costly FOIA requests and litigation expenses while providing researchers access to data to identify patterns of potential discrimination in elections. The data would be made publicly available with a rebuttable presumption of validity, potentially reducing expert witness costs in election discrimination cases. The bill carries a $2 million fiscal impact, primarily for technology development and staffing. Opposition centered on unfunded mandates imposed on small municipalities, villages, and special districts lacking resources to comply with new electronic reporting requirements. Sen. Walczyk questioned whether SUNY and CUNY had formally endorsed the proposal and argued the bill missed an opportunity to include private institutions with election expertise. Sen. Martins and Sen. Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, representing districts with numerous small special districts, expressed concern that the reporting requirements would force villages, fire districts, water districts, and school districts to divert limited resources from core services. Myrie acknowledged the bill does not explicitly provide reimbursement for compliance costs but said the matter was open to discussion. The bill passed on a 43-17 vote, with all 17 nays coming from Republican senators.