Massive Voting Reform Bill Passed in New York.

Here’s what you need to know.

A historic package of voting reform bills was passed by the New York State Legislature last Monday, one that aims to enfranchise millions of voters and make it easier for all New Yorkers to cast their ballots. If signed into law, these reforms would help lift New York out of its abysmal record of low voter turnout, widespread chaos at polling stations, and unfair regulations that benefit incumbents.

How bad is the current situation? New York is ranked 41st in the nation for voter turnout. Only 37% of New York voters came out for the 2018 midterms. Even this was considered progress, as only 29% had turned out for the 2014 midterms. That election put New York in 49th place.

On January 14, the State Assembly and Senate passed the following measures designed to bring New York suffrage into the 21st century. Four of them may be implemented quickly following approval by the governor (on or before January 25), while two of the measures require a state constitutional amendment, which will likely delay their implementation until 2022. Amendments require approval by both houses in two consecutive sessions, plus a statewide referendum.

The reforms the governor could simply sign now include:

• Consolidating New York’s federal and state primaries into one day. These primaries were previously, and ludicrously, held on two separate days — in June and September respectively — costing the state an extra $25 million each election year. In a system used only in New York, voters picked their U.S. Congressional candidates in the June primary, then had to wait until September to vote for their state-level primary candidates. Then they had to come back a third time to vote in the general election in November. If there was also a presidential primary that year, New Yorkers were expected to go to the polls four times. It’s easy to see how this would result in confusion and embarrassingly low levels of turnout.

• Early voting. Currently, New York is one of just 16 states that does not allow early voting, causing many to miss Election Day due to work, commute times, mobility, transportation issues and many other challenges that come from holding an election for 13 million registered voters on a single day. The lack of early voting has also led to prohibitively long lines and increased chaos at polling sites. The new bill will allow voting to take place up to 10 days in advance of an election at dedicated polling stations, and must include two full weekends. It is slated to be become available for New York’s 2019 general election, and for all other elections in the state starting January 2020.
  
  Unfortunately, there’s been a serious snag for this measure. The governor, who has spoken out in favor of early voting, announced on Tuesday that no money in the 2019 state budget would be allocated for it. Instead, he believes the counties — not the state — should pay for the costs of setting up and staffing early voting stations, and has stated they should have more than enough money to do so with the savings that will come from consolidated primaries. Activists and Democratic legislators are deeply unhappy about this decision, especially when the governor had set aside $7 million for early voting last year — and blamed the Republican-held Senate for blocking it. Republicans in Albany are blaming the current impasse on Democrats’ failure to plan for the fiscal demands of the bill.

• Pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds. Starting in 2020, teenagers 16 and older will be able to pre-register to vote and will no longer have to wait until they turn 18 to get on the rolls. The legal voting age will remain 18. The bill also requires that city and county boards of elections take up policies that encourage and expedite student voter registration and pre-registration.

• Universal transfer of voter registration records. Another antiquated provision slated to go is New York’s requirement that residents update their registration every time they move to a different county — a bureaucratic headache that has resulted in the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. Under the new law, your registration moves with you anywhere in the state, and is automatically updated through the National Change of Address database or affidavit ballots at the polls. This law is set to take effect 60 days after approval by the governor.

Reforms requiring a state constitutional amendment (unlikely to take effect before 2022):

• No-excuse absentee voting. Currently, absentee voting by mail is only allowed in New York for residents who are literally absent from their county of residence on Election Day, or for those who are ill or cannot get to the polls due to a disability. The new law requires that voting by mail be made available to all New York residents, without requiring an excuse.

• Same-day registration. New York currently requires voters to mail in their registration applications at least 25 days before an election, or to deliver their applications in person to their county board of elections at least 10 days before. The new law will see New York join the 15 other states that already allow voters to register on Election Day.

PLUS: There’s one bill in the package that falls outside the category of voting reform, but is equally crucial to improving New York’s election fairness. The Closing the “LLC Loophole” bill greatly reduces the amount of money limited liability companies may donate to political campaigns. Right now, LLCs are in the same classification as individual donors, and may make five-figure donations to general election campaigns (up to $44,000 in statewide races), and six-figure donations to party committees (up to $109,600 per committee). This is in stark contrast to traditional corporations, which are capped at $5,000 in total. Individuals and corporations have been using the current loophole to set up an unlimited number of LLCs and funnel huge sums of money to their favorite candidates.

A new law will lower the LLC contribution limit to an aggregate $5,000 and will require LLCs to disclose much more information about their members and beneficiaries than it had previously. In addition, all members or owners of a corporation or LLC will now be held criminally liable for campaign finance violations, another significant change.

Though last Monday’s package of bills is a serious breakthrough after years of deadlock, it doesn’t contain everything on voting rights advocates’ wish lists. For example, it doesn’t codify into law parolees’ right to vote (a right that’s currently only established in a Cuomo executive order that could be overturned by a subsequent administration, and which requires a conditional pardon from the governor for each new paroled convict). It also doesn’t reform New York City’s Board of Elections, which is overseen by party chiefs and runs wild with patronage jobs and insufficient poll worker training. Other measures expected to come through the Legislature include making Election Day a state holiday, giving upstate polls more reasonable opening times, removing the deadline required to switch party affiliation — currently set at a year before an upcoming primary — and a bill to ensure more voter-friendly ballots.

Emboldened by their newly won majority in the State Senate, Democratic legislators promise there are plenty more bills coming that will address these and other concerns. Lawmakers are also pressuring Governor Cuomo to follow through on his word to pass this kind of legislation, now that he is no longer shackled by the Republican majority that has ruled the State Senate for 49 of the last 50 years. The new package also owes a tremendous debt to grassroots coalitions like Let NY Vote and Common Cause.

Regardless of the issues that still need addressing, it is vital that New Yorkers spread the word about last week’s legislative victory — and push their electeds to implement further reforms that will finally bring the state of New York in line with its progressive self-image.