On April 4, the New York State Senate passed SB 218, which repeals the in-district residency requirement for petition circulators, both for general election petitions and primary petitions. The bill adds a requirement that the circulator must not have signed the petition of a competing candidate for that same office. The bill passed on a voice vote, so there is no recorded tally.

If this bill is signed into law, there will still be a ban on out-of-state circulators. Whether that ban is constitutional is being litigated in U.S. District Court, in a Libertarian Party lawsuit, Merced v Spano, e.d., 1:16cv-3054. That case is in the process of gathering evidence.