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New York Proposal 5, NYC Civil Court Jurisdiction Amendment (2021)
| New York Proposal 5 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 2, 2021 | |
| Topic State judiciary | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
| 2021 measures |
|---|
| November 2 |
New York Proposal 1  |
| New York Proposal 2 |
| New York Proposal 3 |
| New York Proposal 4 |
| New York Proposal 5 |
| Polls |
| Voter guides |
| Campaign finance |
| Signature costs |
New York Proposal 5, the NYC Civil Court Jurisdiction Amendment, was on the ballot in New York as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 2, 2021. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to allow the New York City Civil Court to hear and decide lawsuits involving claims of $50,000, rather than the current threshold of $25,000. |
A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment, thus keeping the New York City Civil Court's ability to hear and decide lawsuits involving claims at $25,000 or less. |
Election results
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New York Proposal 5 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
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1,874,515 | 64.06% | ||
| No | 1,051,803 | 35.94% | ||
Overview
What did Proposal 5 change about the NYC Civil Court?
The ballot measure would allow the New York City Civil Court to hear and decide lawsuits involving claims of $50,000 or less. Going into the election, the Court was able to hear claims of $25,000 or less.[1][2]
What is the NYC Civil Court?
- See also: Background
The New York City Civil Court is a trial court with jurisdiction in New York City. The New York Constitution, Article VI, Section 15, establishes the NYC Civil Court, thus requiring a constitutional amendment to change certain aspects of the court's structure or jurisdiction. The Court was established on September 1, 1962, following the approval of a judicial restructuring amendment in 1961. As of 2021, the NYC Civil Court could hear cases related to landlord-tenant disputes, claims for damages up to $25,000, and small claims up to $10,000.[3][4]
The NYC Civil Court's original jurisdiction was on claims of $10,000 or less. Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1983 that increased the court's jurisdiction from $10,000 to $25,000. In 1995, voters rejected a constitutional amendment to increase the NYC Civil Court claims jurisdiction from $25,000 to $50,000.
Why was Proposal 5 on the ballot?
- See also: Path to the ballot
Proposal 5 received unanimous support from state legislators, with the exception of absent or abstaining members, in 2020 and 2021. Of the five constitutional amendments on the ballot in New York for November 2, 2021, Proposal 5 was the only constitutional amendment to receive unanimous support from Democrats, Republicans, and independent members of the state Legislature. State Sen. Luis Sepulveda (D-32), the lead sponsor of Proposal 5 in the legislature, said the constitutional amendment was designed to address backlogs and delays in the state judicial system, relieve caseload burdens on other courts, and adequately adjust for inflation.[2]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot question was as follows:[5]
| “ |
Increasing the Jurisdiction of the New York City Civil Court The proposed amendment would increase the New York City Civil Court’s jurisdiction by allowing it to hear and decide claims for up to $50,000 instead of the current jurisdictional limit of $25,000. Shall the proposed amendment be approved?[6] |
” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary was as follows:[5]
| “ |
The purpose of this proposal is to amend Article VI, Section 15 of the New York Constitution to increase the jurisdiction of the New York City Civil Court. The New York City Civil Court is currently limited to hearing and deciding claims for $25,000 or less. The proposed amendment would allow the New York City Civil Court to hear and decide claims for $50,000 or less.[6] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article VI, New York Constitution
The measure would amend Section 15(b) of Article VI of the New York Constitution. The following underlined text would be added and struck-through text would be deleted:[1][2]
b. The court of city-wide civil jurisdiction of the city of New York shall have jurisdiction over the following classes of actions and proceedings which shall be originated in such court in the manner provided by law: actions and proceedings for the recovery of money, actions and proceedings for the recovery of chattels and actions and proceedings for the foreclosure of mechanics liens and liens on personal property where the amount sought to be recovered or the value of the property does not exceed twenty-five fifty thousand dollars exclusive of interest and costs, or such smaller amount as may be fixed by law; over summary proceedings to recover possession of real property and to remove tenants therefrom and over such other actions and proceedings, not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the supreme court, as may be provided by law. The court of city-wide civil jurisdiction shall further exercise such equity jurisdiction as may be provided by law and its jurisdiction to enter judgment upon a counterclaim for the recovery of money only shall be unlimited.[6]
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2021
| Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The New York Board of Elections wrote the ballot language for this measure.
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Support
Supporters
Officials
- State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D)
- State Sen. Robert Jackson (D)
- State Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D)
- State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda (D)
- State Asm. Jeffrey Dinowitz (D)
- State Asm. Richard Gottfried (D)
Arguments
Opposition
Ballotpedia has not identified opponents of the ballot measure. If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
If you are aware of any committees registered to support or oppose the measure, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org. [7]
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Media editorials
- See also: 2021 ballot measure media endorsements
Support
Opposition
Ballotpedia did not identify media editorial board endorsements in support of a "No" vote on Proposal 5.
Background
New York City Civil Court
- See also: New York City Civil Court
The New York City Civil Court is a trial court New York City that has jurisdiction over landlord-tenant cases, claims for damages up to $25,000, and small claims up to $10,000. The Court was established on September 1, 1962, following the approval of a judicial restructuring amendment in 1961.[3][4]
New York Proposal 7 (1983)
Before Proposal 7, passed in 1983, the New York City Civil Court had jurisdiction in cases involving claims upwards of $10,000. Voters approved Proposal 7, increasing the court's jurisdiction from $10,000 to $25,000. As of 2021, Proposal 7 was the last time that voters approved a measure to increase the New York City Civil Court's jurisdiction relative to claims.
New York Proposal 1 (1995)
In 1995, voters rejected a constitutional amendment to increase the NYC Civil Court claims jurisdiction from $25,000 to $50,000 and district court claims jurisdiction from $15,000 to $50,000. The vote was 49.7 percent in favor and 50.3 percent against.
Constitutional amendments on New York ballots
In New York, the state legislature can propose amendments to the state constitution. Between 1995 and 2020, the state legislature referred 25 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 19 (76%) of the proposed amendments. The last election to feature constitutional amendments in New York was November 7, 2017. The following chart illustrates trends in constitutional amendments on the ballot in New York:
| Constitutional amendments on the ballot in New York, 1995-2018 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number | Approved | Percent approved | Defeated | Percent defeated | Odd-year average | Odd-year median | Odd-year minimum | Odd-year maximum | |
| 25 | 19 | 76.0% | 6 | 24.0% | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0 | 6 | |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the New York Constitution
In New York, a constitutional amendment requires a simple majority vote in each chamber of the New York State Legislature in two successive legislative sessions with an election for state legislators in between.
203rd New York State Legislature
The constitutional amendment was introduced into the 203rd New York State Legislature (2019-2020).[1][2]
On June 6, 2019, the New York State Assembly passed the constitutional amendment as Assembly Bill 7714 (A7714). The vote was unanimous minus members who were excused. On June 20, 2019, the New York State Senate also passed the constitutional amendment in a unanimous vote.[1][2]
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204th New York State Legislature
Legislators of the 204th State Legislature (2021-2022) need to approve the constitutional amendment again to refer the issue to the ballot for voter consideration in 2021 or 2022.
On June 7, 2021, the New York Senate approved the amendment in an unanimous vote. On June 10, 2021, the New York State Assembly voted 148-0 with two members absent to approve the amendment.[8] With approval in both the Senate and Assembly, the constitutional amendment was referred to the ballot.
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How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in New York
Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in New York.
| How to cast a vote in New York | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Poll timesPolls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. for primary and general elections. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[9][10] Registration
To vote in New York, one must be a United States citizen, a resident of the county, city, or village for at least 30 days prior to the election, and at least 18 years old by the date of the election. People who are in prison for a felony conviction and those who have been declared mentally incompetent by a court are ineligible to register to vote. One cannot register to vote in New York while claiming the right to vote elsewhere. Pre-registration is available beginning at the age of 16.[11] Registration applications are available at the county board of elections or any agency-based voter registration center. Forms are also available online, or prospective voters can request the form by mail.[11] Completed forms returned by mail must be postmarked at least 25 days prior to the election. The form must then be received by election officials at least 10 days before the election. A registration done in person must be completed at least 10 days prior to the election.[12] Residents may also register to vote online through the DMV Electronic Voter Registration Application. These applications are forwarded to the board of elections; applicants should allow up to six weeks for processing.[13] Automatic registrationNew York automatically registers eligible individuals to vote through a number of state agencies including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Health, the Department of Labor, and others. Online registration
New York has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registrationNew York does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirementsIn order to register to vote in New York, applicants must reside in the county, city, or village in which they are registering for at least 30 days prior to the election.[14] Verification of citizenshipNew York does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, voter who submits false information "can be convicted and fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to four years."[15] All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment.[16] Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registrationThe New York State Board of Elections allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website. Voter ID requirementsNew York does not require voters to present identification while voting.[17] However, if a voter does not provide valid identification at the time of registration, he or she must show identification at the polling place when voting for the first time[18][19] Voters can present the following forms of identification:
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 New York Assembly, "S06346," accessed November 18, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 New York Senate, "A7714," accessed November 18, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 New York Courts, "New York City Civil Court," accessed June 10, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 New York Courts, "General Information," accessed June 14, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 New York Board of Elections, "2021 Statewide Ballot Proposals," accessed August 29, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance," accessed February 9, 2021
- ↑ New York State Senate, "Senate Bill S514," accessed January 13, 2021
- ↑ New York State Senate, "Consolidated Laws of New York § 17-8-100," accessed October 8, 2024
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Know Your Rights," accessed October 8, 2024
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 New York State Board of Elections, “Voter Registration Process,” accessed October 8, 2024
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, “Registration and Voting Deadlines,” accessed October 8, 2024
- ↑ New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, “Register to Vote Online - Electronic Voter Registration Application,” accessed April 28, 2023
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Voter Registration Process," accessed September 25, 2024
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "New York State Voter Registration Form," accessed November 2, 2024
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Provisional Ballots," accessed October 7, 2019
- ↑ New York State Senate, “Consolidated Laws, Chapter 17 Section 5-210,” accessed October 8, 2024
- ↑ New York State Senate, “Consolidated Laws, Chapter 17 Section 8-302,” accessed October 8, 2024
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