As early voting opens, Council passes two bills on voting from city jails

Early voting for the November 3 general election starts Saturday, October 24, and runs through Sunday, November 1, according to the city's 311 portal. Two days before it began, the City Council passed two bills about voting from city jails, where most people are held before trial and many are eligible to vote.

The Council's press release describes both bills:

• Int. 786-A, sponsored by Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers. It requires the Department of Correction to check ballot envelopes from people in custody for errors that can be fixed, tell the voter, and give them a way to fix it. The release quotes Brooks-Powers saying custody "should never mean being denied the opportunity" to vote.
• Int. 797-A, sponsored by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. It requires the department to report every year on voter registration and voting in city jails. The reports must include demographic information on people who return registration forms.

What our records add

The bills waited six months after their hearing. Both were introduced March 26. They were heard April 14 at a joint oversight hearing of the Committees on Governmental Operations and Criminal Justice, chaired by Gale Brewer and Brooks-Powers. Both bills were laid over that day. The Criminal Justice Committee approved amended versions Thursday morning, and the full Council passed them that afternoon. That was 191 days after the hearing.

The department raised feasibility concerns. At the April hearing, a Department of Correction deputy commissioner testified about the ballot-curing bill. The official said the department does not receive the Board of Elections' deficiency notices and cannot see which ballots need fixing. Council Member Frank Morano pressed the department on how it would carry out the bill under those limits. The version passed Thursday is an amended "A" version. The committee report filed with the matter record explains the changes.

Members asked for numbers. Council Member Tiffany Cabán put on the record a jail population of about 6,700, most of them eligible to vote. Council Member Yusef Salaam asked the Board of Elections how many rejected 2024 primary ballots from people in custody had fixable errors. Council Member Mercedes Narcisse asked how many detained people lack the tablets used to share voter information. Brooks-Powers described the staff role responsible for registration forms and absentee and early mail ballot requests.

The state sets the limits. Officials testified that state election law limits people in custody to absentee or early mail ballots. Neither bill changes that. Brewer noted that more than 80 percent of people held on Rikers are eligible to vote.

Who else is on the ballot this year

The Council itself is not on the ballot this November. Voters will choose statewide and federal offices and will decide five city charter amendments. Our ballot proposals explainer covers the amendments. Also on Thursday, the Council approved Marricka Scott-McFadden as the Bronx Democratic commissioner of the Board of Elections, on the recommendation of the Bronx County Democratic Committee.

What's next

Both bills go to Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He has 30 days to sign or veto them before they become law. Their requirements would not be in place for this election. Under the reporting bill, the first annual report would cover registration and voting in a later election cycle.

To find your early voting site, use the Board of Elections lookup linked from the 311 page. Hours vary by day.