NEW YORK — In response to today’s special session of the Legislature, the Easy Elections Coalition called on the Governor and Legislative leaders to take up election reform. New York State is currently 41st in the nation for voter turnout, and an analysis released today by the Board of Elections found that in New York City, turnout for the primary elections was only 8%.
“The Legislature and the Governor left Albany last week without passing any kind of election reform, but now they have an opportunity in the special session to make elections easy for the millions of New Yorkers who will go to the polls this Fall. New York ranks at the bottom for voter turn out not because we don’t want to vote, but because our elected officials won’t let us. Our voters deserve access to early voting, electronic poll-books and automatic voter registration now.”
The Easy Elections New York Coalition includes the following growing list of organizations from across the state:
- New York Progressive Action Network (NYPAN)
- Brooklyn Voters Alliance of GOBK
- 2 Hours A Week
- Common Cause/NY
- Public Citizen
- Gowanus Gathering for Action
- Brooklyn Rebels
- Concerned Citizens For Change
- Rock the Vote
- SEIU 32BJ
- Citizen Action NY
- New York Social Justice PAC
- Indivisible 330
- The Youth Progressive Policy Group (YPPG)
- The New York City Action Council (NYCIA Council)
- Tally Up NY (actually not Tally Up)
- New York Immigration Coalition
- Citizens Union
- Interfaith Impact of NYS
- Indivisible: Rapid Response NYC
- Indivisible: Rapid Response Blue
- Indivisible: Rapid Response Red & Purple
- Indivisible Village in Ditmas Park
- NY Indivisible
- New York Democratic Lawyers Council (NYDLC)
- Peace Action & Education
- The Creative Resistance
- The New York City Action Council (NYCIA Council)
- Indivisible Millbrook Loyal Opposition
- LTH Indivisible
- Westchester Citizen Therapists
- Ulster Activists
- NY Senate District 17 for Progress
- Indivisible Village in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn
- New Kings Democrats
- Code Blue NYS
- Croton on Hudson INDIVISIBLE
- Justice League NYC
- Voter Registration Team of the Syracuse Solidarity Coalition
- Action and Empathy
- NY4Democracy
- March On! New Paltz
- Strong Economy for All
- Empire State Progressives
- NY Senate District 17 for Progress
Background
37 states already have some form of Early Voting, leaving New York as one of only 13 states without any means to vote early except via absentee ballot. New York does not have any form of Automatic Voter Registration either. Automatically registering eligible voters encourages civic participation, and provides a vehicle for state agencies to efficiently transfer voter registration information to the Board of Elections. 16 states allow post-incarceration voting, which fosters re-entry through civic participation and is easier to administer. Outdated elections is in part why only 29 percent of the state’s eligible population voted in 2014, putting New York in the bottom third nationally.
