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Albany Set To Change Election Laws Following 2018 Voting Scenario

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Last year was an election that many observers called the most important of our lifetime. So much was up in the air as voters headed to the polls to vote for candidates covering a range of offices and the gamut of issues, even whether or not to rebuke the president of the United States or support him by voting for or against certain candidates. While the results from that election were indeed consequential and interesting, the main story in New York became the long lines in the rain, machines that weren’t scanning and accepting ballots, and an overall sense of frustration and anger on a day that’s supposed to be a celebration of America’s freedom and democracy. And this is all before even getting into the unusual and burdensome primary rules the state has.

There are a number of measures that voting advocates believe can make voting more easy, accessible, and secure. Because Republicans have mainly opposed these ideas and instead generally have made voting harder, the conventional wisdom wouldn’t be that the blue state of New York, with its very liberal New York City, would be regressive. For the most part, voters have to register at least a few weeks before the election and must show up in person and on the day of the election. Other states, like New Jersey, offer voting by mail, and early voting isn’t too uncommon of a practice either, one that’s done in Texas. At least the state’s motor vehicles department allows voter registration, but someone who gets the patriotic bug on election day but didn’t register to vote wouldn’t be eligible to vote.

As the Democrats take control of both chambers in Albany, they’re ready to send Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) legislation that would make voting easier, according to The New York Times. The package would include some of the most common reforms supported by advocates, like preregistering teenagers as they get within two years of meeting the age eligibility and making early voting and mail-in voting possible. Because the state also has an odd primary setup that puts the primary for federal offices and the primary for state offices on different days, the legislature also wants to hold just one primary for all races happening in a given year. Even if the lawmakers and governor agree to the ideas, the process could drag on for some reforms because they would need to have a voter referendum component and also the legislature passing the reforms.

A spokesman for the governor signaled that Cuomo is on board with election reforms.

“We look forward to working with them to go further and enact public campaign financing, make Election Day a state holiday and ban corporate contributions once and for all,” Rich Azzopardi said on behalf of Gov. Cuomo.

“This is just the beginning,” Senator Michael Gianaris of Queens, the deputy Democratic leader in the Senate said. “There’s a long list of issues that have been kept on the shelf by Republicans all these years.”

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