Election Reforms are a big deal and we made a lot of them in 2019!

This year has seen many incredible voter actions and movements to reform the Brooklyn Democratic Party, NY, and of course our political system as a whole. One of the biggest wins for reform were the changes to our electoral system.

At February’s New Kings Democrats meeting a representative from Common Cause NY spoke to us about the Let NY Vote campaign.

This campaign has been lobbying in Albany for the last 2 years and this year, the work of Common Cause and many NYers finally got traction! 6 priority reforms were passed including:

• Early Voting (more on that later and in another post!) starting 9 days before the general elections,

• Pre-registration of 16 and 17 year-olds: they’re now automatically opted in

• Merging the primary voting day: One primary for both federal and state elections

• Registration portability: Your registration automatically moves with you when you submit your change of address to the USPS

The following reforms require changes in the NY constitution to be enacted:

• Same day voter registration

• No excuse absentee — could then offer a vote by mail system and allow for more voters.

Since the reforms have been adopted, we need to continue to push for funding to ensure that they can all be maintained. Other reforms that are still needed:

• Electronic poll books

• Codifying the restoration of the vote for people on parole – no one should lose their right to vote if they are justice involved. This is currently set in place as an executive order, but it should be law.

• Faster turn-around time for changing party affiliation – There is institutional resistance to this as there is a fear that people will change their affiliation in order to sway the outcome of an election. However, the data doesn’t show this. Not having enough time to change your affiliation (or affiliate to a party at all) is a problem particularly in NY as we have closed primaries and those not affiliated with a party can’t vote in those elections.

• Redesigning the ballot to make it more user friendly.

There are still many ways to get involved and continue to ensure that these reforms are upheld. One of the first is to enjoy Early Voting for the first time ever in NY!

First things first, make sure that your voter registration is correct! (And with all the scaries of the news showing how many voters have been taken off the rolls – make sure your in the Department of Election’s voting records at all!!!) To check visit: Voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

Next, learn where your polling place is for early voting. (NOTE: It may not be the same place where you go to vote on election days.) Click here to find out where! Before you get to the polls, learn what will be on the ballot. Be an informed voter! This November (or end of October if you're voting early!) there are ballot measures, Judges, and an election for the Public Advocate. Here are two sites where you can see a sample ballot (the formats are different, but the information is the same!): Ballotopedia and WhosOnTheBallot.