New York Proposal 5, NYC Civil Court Jurisdiction Amendment (2021)

New York Proposal 5

Election date
November 2, 2021
Topic
State judiciary
Status
a 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.

## Contents

* 1 Election results
* 2 Overview
* 2.1 What did Proposal 5 change about the NYC Civil Court?
* 2.2 What is the NYC Civil Court?
* 2.3 Why was Proposal 5 on the ballot?
* 3 Text of measure
* 3.1 Ballot title
* 3.2 Ballot summary
* 3.3 Constitutional changes
* 3.4 Readability score
* 4 Support
* 4.1 Supporters
* 4.2 Arguements
* 5 Opposition
* 6 Campaign finance
* 7 Media editorials
* 7.1 Support
* 7.2 Opposition
* 8 Background
* 8.1 New York City Civil Court
* 8.2 New York Proposal 7 (1983)
* 8.3 New York Proposal 1 (1995)
* 8.4 Constitutional amendments on New York ballots
* 9 Path to the ballot
* 9.1 203rd New York State Legislature
* 9.2 204th New York State Legislature
* 10 How to cast a vote
* 10.1 Poll times
* 10.2 Registration
* 10.3 Automatic registration
* 10.4 Online registration
* 10.5 Same-day registration
* 10.6 Residency requirements
* 10.7 Verification of citizenship
* 10.8 Verifying your registration
* 10.9 Voter ID requirements
* 10.9.1 Background
* 11 See also
* 12 External links
* 13 Footnotes

## Election results[edit]

New York Proposal 5

Result | Votes | Percentage

Yes

| 1,675,853 | 62.86%
No | 990,185 | 37.14%

Precincts reporting: 99%
Election results are unofficial until certified. These results were last updated on November 4, 2021 at 10:13:18 AM Eastern Time.
Source

## Overview[edit]

### 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?[edit]

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?[edit]

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[edit]

### Ballot title[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 11, and the FRE is 45. The word count for the ballot title is 36, and the estimated reading time is 9 seconds. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 10, and the FRE is 61. The word count for the ballot summary is 63, and the estimated reading time is 16 seconds.

## Support[edit]

### Supporters[edit]

#### Officials

* State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D)
* State Sen. Robert Jackson (D)
* State Sen. James Sanders, Jr. (D)
* State Sen. Luis Sepulveda (D)
* State Asm. Jeffrey Dinowitz (D)
* State Asm. Richard Gottfried (D)

### Arguements[edit]

* Sen. Luis Sepúlveda: "Now, more than 35 years later, it is time to once again revisit this threshold. This bill would raise the jurisdictional limit of New York City Civil Court to $50,000. In the New York State Unified Court System 2018 annual report, the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Janet DiFiore made reducing backlogs and delays a crucial point of her Excellence Initiative. Adjusting this jurisdictional limit would be one powerful tool to address these problems. It would adequately adjust for inflation, and help to relieve some of the burden placed on New York Supreme Court judges."

## Opposition[edit]

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[edit]

See also: Campaign finance requirements for New York ballot measures

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

## Media editorials[edit]

See also: 2021 ballot measure media endorsements

### Support[edit]

* The Buffalo News Editorial Board: "This is a New York City proposal to increase the City Civil Court’s jurisdiction over claims from $25,000 to $50,000, basically an adjustment for inflation. Vote yes."

### Opposition[edit]

Ballotpedia did not identify media editorial board endorsements in support of a "No" vote on Proposal 5.

## Background[edit]

### New York City Civil Court[edit]

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)[edit]

See also: New York Proposal 7, County Courts, District Courts, and NYC Civil Court Jurisdiction Amendment (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)[edit]

See also: New York Proposal 1, NYC Civil Court and District Court Jurisdiction Amendment (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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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]

| Vote in the New York State Assembly
June 6, 2019

Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber in two sessions
Number of yes votes required: 76 a
| Yes| No| Not voting
Total| 139| 0| 11
Total percent| 92.67%| 0.00%| 7.33%
Democrat| 98| 0| 8
Republican| 40| 0| 3
Independence| 1| 0| 0

| Vote in the New York Senate
June 20, 2019

Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber in two sessions
Number of yes votes required: 32 a
| Yes| No| Not voting
Total| 62| 0| 0
Total percent| 100.00%| 0.00%| 0.00%
Democrat| 40| 0| 0
Republican| 22| 0| 0

### 204th New York State Legislature[edit]

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.

| Vote in the New York Senate
June 7, 2021

Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber in two sessions
Number of yes votes required: 32 a
| Yes| No| Not voting
Total| 63| 0| 0
Total percent| 100.00%| 0.00%| 0.00%
Democrat| 43| 0| 0
Republican| 20| 0| 0

| Vote in the New York State Assembly
June 10, 2021

Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber in two sessions
Number of yes votes required: 90 a
| Yes| No| Not voting
Total| 148| 0| 2
Total percent| 98.67%| 0.00%| 1.33%
Democrat| 105| 0| 2
Republican| 43| 0| 0

## How to cast a vote[edit]

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 times[edit]

For primary elections, polls open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 9:00 p.m. in New York City and the counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Erie. Polls open at 12:00 p.m. and close at 9:00 p.m. in all other counties. Polls open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 9:00 p.m. for general elections. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[9]

### Registration[edit]

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. Individuals who are in prison or on parole 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.[10] 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.[10] 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 20 days before the election. A registration done in person must be completed at least 25 days prior to the election.[11] 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.[12]

### Automatic registration[edit]

On December 22, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) signed S8806/A8280C into law, establishing automatic voter registration. When individuals interact with state agencies, voter registration will be integrated into other applications or registrations the agency provides. The Department of Motor Vehicle process will be implemented in 2023, the Departments of Health, Labor, and Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance in 2024, and the State University of New York in 2025.[13][14]

### Online registration[edit]

See also: Online voter registration

New York has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

### Same-day registration[edit]

New York does not allow same-day voter registration.

### Residency requirements[edit]

In 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.

### Verification of citizenship[edit]

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

New York does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

### Verifying your registration[edit]

The New York State Board of Elections allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.

### Voter ID requirements[edit]

New York does not require voters to present identification while voting.[15] 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.[16][17]

Voters can present the following forms of identification:

* A current, valid photo ID, including but not limited to a drivers' license or a DMV-issued non-driver photo ID
* A current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document with the voter's name and address

#### Background[edit]

As of April 2021, 35 states enforced (or were scheduled to begin enforcing) voter identification requirements. A total of 21 states required voters to present photo identification at the polls; the remainder accepted other forms of identification. Valid forms of identification differ by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.[18][19]

## See also[edit]

2021 measures

* 2021 ballot measures
* State judiciary on the ballot
* 2021 legislative sessions

New York

* New York ballot measures
* New York ballot measure laws
* New York City Civil Court

News and analysis

* Ballot measure lawsuits
* Ballot measure readability
* Ballot measure polls

|
|

## External links[edit]

* Assembly Bill 7714 (2019)
* Senate Bill 514A (2021)

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 New York Assembly, "S06346," accessed November 18, 2019
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 New York Senate, "A7714," accessed November 18, 2019
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 New York Courts, "New York City Civil Court," accessed June 10, 2021
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 New York Courts, "General Information," accessed June 14, 2021
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 New York Board of Elections, "2021 Statewide Ballot Proposals," accessed August 29, 2021
6. ↑ 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
7. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance," accessed February 9, 2021
8. ↑ New York State Senate, "Senate Bill S514," accessed January 13, 2021
9. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed October 17, 2019
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 New York State Board of Elections, “Register to Vote,” accessed October 4, 2019
11. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, “Voter Registration Deadlines,” accessed October 4, 2019
12. ↑ New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, “Register to Vote Online - Electronic Voter Registration Application,” accessed October 4, 2019
13. ↑ Spectrum News, "Cuomo Signs Automatic Voter Registration Measure," December 22, 2020
14. ↑ Office of the Governor of New York, "Governor Cuomo Signs New York Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2020 into Law," December 22, 2020
15. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Provisional Ballots," accessed October 7, 2019
16. ↑ FindLaw, "New York Consolidated Laws, Election Law - ELN § 5-210. Registration and enrollment and change of enrollment upon application," accessed November 12, 2019
17. ↑ FindLaw, "New York Consolidated Laws, Election Law - ELN § 8-302. Voting; verification of registration," accessed November 12, 2019
18. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Voter Identification Requirements|Voter ID Laws," June 5, 2017
19. ↑ The Washington Post, "Do I need an ID to vote? A look at the laws in all 50 states," October 27, 2014

v • e

2021 ballot measures

I&R States|

• Colorado • Maine • Washington

Non I&R States|

• Louisiana • New Jersey • New York • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • Texas

Political topics|

Bond issues •

Constitutional rights • Environment • Housing • Race and ethnicity • Redistricting measures • State executive official measures • State legislatures measures

Other|

Scorecard • Petition drive deadlines and requirements • Polls • Lawsuits • Readability analysis • Signature costs • Cost per required signatures analysis • Campaign finance • Media editorial endorsements • Voter guides • Potential measures • Ballot Measure Monthly • Changes in 2021 to laws governing the initiative process • Not on the ballot • Filed initiatives

v • e

State of New York
Albany (capital)

|

Elections |

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2021 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government |

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy