ALBANY – New rules designed to make the state Assembly operate more openly could also cut down on the face time that its members have with constituents.

The chairman of the committee that formulated the new procedures, Assemblyman Jack McEneny of Albany, urged New York citizens who come to the Capitol hoping to meet with their representatives to have patience while members get used to the new rules.

One change will require all bills to face roll call votes in the Assembly. That will mean that members have to physically press a “yes” or “no” button on the electronic voting devices on their desks when bills come before the Assembly.

Members will have one minute to do so from the time the bill is submitted for a vote, and if they don’t, they will not be recorded as voting on that bill.

This will replace a system where most bills were voted on through a “fast roll call” procedure. This was a parliamentary shorthand where the clerk of the Assembly would call the names of four members, signifying the membership of the entire chamber, and members would indicate their “no” votes.

Members who had checked in for the day’s session did not have to be in the chamber, or anywhere near the chamber, at the time of votes, and they would still be recorded as being present and voting “yes.”

Critics say that so-called empty seat voting was one of the ills of a Legislature whose ineffectuality is symbolized by the state’s 20 years of late budgets.

Assembly Democrats think the end of empty seat voting will be one of the reforms that will restore flagging public confidence in the chamber, state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said. He called the rules changes part of the “biggest reform movement that’s happened here in at least a half a century.”

Mr. McEneny said the new voting rules will tie Assembly members more closely to their desks and to their voting machines.

He predicted that would make the level of discourse in the chamber better because there will be more members actually listening to debates.

But he also said that will make it harder for members to duck out to meet the thousands of constituents and groups who travel to Albany each year to lobby their state legislators on various issues.

Also departing from custom, the Assembly is going to start meeting on Tuesdays. Traditionally, the chamber has met on Mondays and Wednesdays and held Tuesday out for committee meetings.

Tuesdays have also been the favored day of the week for citizen-lobbyists to come to the Capitol to advocate for or against bills. Naturally, those lobbyists expect to get at least a few minutes with their legislators during the lobbying forays.

Michael Kink, a lobbyist who frequently brings groups of people with HIV and AIDS to Albany to advocate on health care and housing issues, said he tries whenever possible to schedule meetings with legislators in their offices during those visits.

“If there is less opportunity to sit down with them and have a detailed discussion, then our work is going to be harder,” Mr. Kink said.

But Mr. Kink added that the advocates he brings to the Capitol, and those for many other groups, are determined people who will find a way to get their meetings and make their voices heard.

“For life-and-death issues like AIDS, we will find a way to talk to the folks that we need to talk to,” he said.