New York Laws
Title 2 - Board of Elections
3-222 - Preservation of Ballots and Records of Voting Machines.

§ 3-222. Preservation of ballots and records of voting machines. 1.
Except as hereinafter provided, removable memory cards or other similar
electronic media shall remain sealed against reuse until such time as
the information stored on such media has been preserved in a manner
consistent with procedures developed and distributed by the state board
of elections. Provided, however, that the information stored on such
electronic media and all the data and figures therein may be examined
upon the order of any court or judge of competent jurisdiction or may be
examined at the direction of a committee of the senate or assembly to
investigate and report upon contested elections of members of the
legislature voted for by the use of voting machines utilizing such
electronic media and such data and such figures examined by such
committee in the presence of the officer having the custody of voting
machines and electronic media.

2. Voted ballots shall be preserved for two years after such election
and the packages thereof may be opened and the contents examined only
upon order of a court or judge of competent jurisdiction, or by
direction of such committee of the senate and assembly if the ballots
relate to the election under investigation by such committee, and at the
expiration of such time, such ballots may be disposed of at the
discretion of the officer or board having charge of them.

3. Except as hereinafter provided, packages of protested, void and
wholly blank ballots, open packages of unused ballots and all absentee
and military, special federal, special presidential and emergency
ballots and ballot envelopes, if any, opened or unopened, shall be
preserved for two years after the election. Sealed packages of unused
ballots shall be retained for four months, and may then be destroyed,
provided a certificate articulating the election district identifying
data and numbers of such ballots is filed with the balance of ballots
described in this section, for the balance of the two year retention
period. Except as hereinafter provided, boxes containing voted paper
ballots, if any shall be preserved inviolate for four months after the
election, or until one month before the next election occurring within
five months after a preceding election if such boxes are needed for use
at such next election and if the officer or board in charge of such
voted paper ballots is required by law to furnish ballot boxes therefor.
Provided, however, that such ballot boxes and such packages may be
opened, and their contents and the absentee and military, special
federal, special presidential and emergency ballots and ballot envelopes
may be examined, upon the order of any court or justice of competent
jurisdiction. Boxes and envelopes containing absentee, military and
emergency ballots voted at a general or special election, for the office
of member of the senate or assembly, packages of void, protested and
wholly blank ballots, unopened absentee and military ballot envelopes
and the packages of unused ballots, in connection with such election,
also may be opened, and their contents and such envelopes also may be
examined, by direction of a committee of the senate or assembly to
investigate and report on contested elections of members of the
legislature. Unless otherwise ordered or directed by such a court,
justice or committee, such boxes shall be opened and their contents and
such packages and the envelopes containing voted ballots and ballot
envelopes shall be destroyed, at the expiration of the period during
which they are required by the provisions of this section to be
preserved, except that instead of being destroyed, they may be sold and
the proceeds paid over in the manner provided with respect to the sale
of books, records and papers pertaining to an election.

4. All records and documents pertaining to ballot label programming
and ballot label programming data for any election for any voting

machine of a type approved after September first, nineteen hundred
eighty-six and all records pertaining to the periodic maintenance
testing of any such programming and programming data or the testing of
any such machine in connection with any such election shall be preserved
for two years after such election.