Sen. Mark Walczyk, R-Watertown, is pictured on a tour of the Dolgeville area recently.

State Sen. George Borrello is co-sponsoring legislation that would add impersonating elections officials to the state’s criminal impersonation statute.

Sen. Mark Walczyk, R-Watertown, is sponsoring the bill (S.7661) which comes a few weeks after the state Board of Elections warned people to be aware after receiving complaints that fake staff members were found knocking on doors, confronting voters regarding their registration status, and erroneously accusing voters of committing a crime because of how they appear in the state voter database.

Second-degree criminal impersonation is currently a class A misdemeanor. If Walczyk’s is passed, impersonating an elections official would be a class E felony punishable by up to two to five years in jail. Walczyk’s legislation could be placed on a committee agenda when the legislature reconvenes in January.

“Recently, many upstate New York counties have reported that individuals have been posing as elections officials,” Walczyk wrote in his legislative memorandum. “These people have been asking voters for sensitive information and been spreading false information about their registration status. Numerous county Boards of Elections have issued warnings about these imposters, along with the state Board Elections. Bad actors like these have undermined public faith in the electoral process at a time when that faith is precariously low. Adding elections officials to current criminal impersonation statute will help discourage these actions from happening in the future.”

Board of elections officials from throughout the state have reported similar issues with people impersonating staff to question voters about their registration, including in Chautauqua County. State Board of Elections officials have said what is happeningis a voter moves from one county to another and the counties involved haven’t yet notified each other that the voter has moved. While the situation may look nefarious, the situation usually resolves itself when one county purges its voter records.

“We are extremely alarmed by these actions. These individuals are impersonating government officials in an effort to intimidate voters based on inaccurate and misleading information,” said Raymond J. Riley III, co-executive director of the state Board of Elections. “We strongly encourage those engaging in these activities to cease immediately.”

If a voter is approached by someone claiming to be from the state or county Board of Elections, they are encouraged to immediately request identification. If the individual refuses or appears under suspicious circumstances, state elections officials recommend collecting as much information as possible, not providing the individual with any personal information, and contacting local law enforcement to report the incident.

“We have been notified that this is happening in our county,” said county election Commissioners Luz Torres and Brian Abram in a joint statement recently. “You can rest assured, the Chautauqua County Board of Elections employees would never come to your home and challenge your voting rights.”