The Brennan Center for Justice, recently categorized New York as a State with Restrictive Voting Laws. New York can do better!
2022 PRO-VOTER LEGISLATIVE AGENDA - These are Bills waiting for Floor Votes
Legislation to Ensure that Voters have Reasonable Opportunities to Exercise their Fundamental Right to Vote
- Permit Registration at Second and Vacation Homes S6214 (Myrie) / A6482 (Barrett)
- Same Day Registration S517 (Gianaris) / A502 (Carroll)
- No Excuse Absentee Ballot A4431 (Vanel) /S360 (Comrie)
- Require Notice to Voter, when Removed from Voter Rolls: Voters should be given Reasonable Notice when they are Removed from Voter Rolls due to Inactivity or otherwise.
Legislation to Improve Absentee Voting
In addition to the Constitutional Amendment for No Excuse Absentee Ballot, the Legislature should enact the common sense Reforms so that Absentee Ballots are Not Rejected for Technical reasons and to make it easier for Voters to return them:
- Allow Voters to Cure Envelope Sealing Defects S327 (Myrie) / A1084 (Paulin)
- Allow Counting of Absentee Ballots without Postmarks, Marked Received, and Requires Envelopes with Tracking Barcodes S466 (Myrie) / A1084 (Paulin)
- Require BOEs to Process Absentee Ballot Applications and Send Ballots to Voters on a Specific Timeline S516 (Gianaris) / A9376 (Walker)
Legislation to Prevent Voter Suppression and Ensure Due Process
- John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of NY A6678A (Walker) / S1046A (Myrie): Require, among other things, that Changes to Voting Regulations in Counties with large Minority populations be approved by the Attorney General of New York.
- Universal Attorney Poll Watchers A9222 (Weprin) / S5309 (Parker): Permit Attorneys licensed and Residing in New York, who are already subject to Statewide Ethics Oversight, to act as Poll Watchers in any New York Locality in order to Monitor for Misconduct.
- Deceptive Practices and Voter Suppression Act (A7972-2019 (Lavine) / S1032-2022 (Stewart-Cousins): Defines and Penalizes Deceptive Election practices as well as Voter Suppressing and Intimidating conduct that undermines our Democracy.
- Restore Voting Rights for Convicted Felons S3072 (Salazar) / A6646 (Epstein): Authorize Convicted Felons who are Incarcerated in State or Local Facilities to Vote in Elections based on the Inmates’ Residence prior to Incarceration.
- Require Voter Challenges to be in Writing S269 (Myrie) / A5566 (Solages): Require all Challenges to Voters be made in Writing and Logged in Poll Books.
Give the State Board of Elections Discretion over Voting Machine Certification
- S6211 (Reichlin-Melnick / A829 (Paulin): Gives the State Board of Elections discretion to Reject a Machine that meets the Statutory Eligibility requirements, but otherwise appears Unsecure. Currently, the Board must Certify any Machine that just meets the Statutory Requirements.
- Making Ballot Images Available S286A (Myrie) / A6589A (Galef): Require that Boards of Election make Copies of all Ballots cast in an Election available to the Public upon request.
- Require Basic Security Measures for E-Poll Books: Require certain Minimum Security requirements for e-Poll Books all Voting, in each Polling Site, across the State, in order to Reduce the occurrence of Hacking and to provide a Backup of the Records stored in the e-Poll Books, in the event that the Devices fail.
- Risk-Limiting Audits to Ensure Accuracy Require a Statistically-based Risk-Limiting Audit or Hand-Count of Voter-Verifiable records, after an Election, to avoid Certification of an Incorrect outcome.
- Mandate Training for BOE Commissioners, Employees, Employees, Poll Workers, and Those Who Train Poll Workers A4323(Walker) / S5800B (Comrie)
- Bar Elected Officials and Party Chairs from Serving as Election Commissioners A4254 (Abinanti) / S7442 (Myrie).
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
