| NYC Charter Revision Commission May Recommend Open Primaries
A New York City Charter Revision Commission is recommending that the city change it’s primary election process by creating an open primary system where the top two candidates would face off in a general election.
The Commission considered proposals for open primary reforms. One proposal, made by Citizens Union, would establish an “all candidate, all voter” open primary using ranked choice voting, followed by a top-two general election. According to a preliminary report issued by the Commisison on April 30, “(m)any other models are available and may also be considered, including Alaska’s top-four system, which uses ranked choice voting in the general election. Any permutation can maintain and build upon the success of ranked choice voting, as well as preserve party identification on the ballot, given the important role that party identification plays in political life. In examining any open primary reform, the Commission may consider a number of issues. It may be too soon after the implementation of RCV to enact another significant electoral reform. Open primaries have been shown to increase electoral competition and encourage candidates to appeal to a broad cross-section of voters, but opponents of open primaries argue that political parties should maintain greater influence over how party nominees are selected, and that changing the existing system would weaken parties’ civic engagement and voter education roles. And crucially, the Commission must carefully consider the impact of any proposed change on minority and marginalized communities.”
The Commission will hold further public hearings on this and other proposals before making it’s final recommendations. For more information, go to: https://www.nyc.gov/site/charter/meetings/public-meetings-hearings.page
State Senate Elections Committee Considering Election Law Updates; GOP Singularly Animated By Photo ID Laws
On Tuesday, the Senate Elections Committee will reconvene to consider 11 bills including a proposal to streamline the vote-by-mail (and absentee ballot) application process, which will save boards of elections resources and protect voters from minor technical errors, omissions, or confusion that could hinder their ability to cast a ballot (S6995 (Gonzalez)). The bill is the first effort to harmonize the election law since the Court of Appeals upheld the Empire State’s new universal vote by mail option in 2024 in a 6-1 decision. This would allow local boards to use the same envelopes for both types of ballots, saving printing costs and eliminating administrative confusion. The clean-up bill provides that if an eligible voter submits an otherwise-valid absentee request but fails to indicate a statutory excuse for why they are requesting the ballot (Election Law § 8-400), the application is processed as an early mail ballot request which requires no excuse (Election Law § 8-700). This avoids rejecting and spoiling the application (and potentially disenfranchising the voter) when the board has all the information needed for a mail ballot request, merely because the voter used the wrong request form. The bill also allows registered voters to request mail ballots once for all elections in the two-year cycle, saving staff the time and expense of processing recurring routine requests. Finally the bill improves access to mail ballots for military and overseas voters.
In addition, the Elections Committee will advance a campaign finance transparency bill requiring political committees to disclose additional contributor or transferor identification information for individuals or entities giving more than $99. Filings reporting a loan would also need to identify the source of funds (S1910 (Rivera) / A3092 (Carroll)). In response to the “2022 redistricting fiasco” that led the courts to order an additional August primary and split off solely the State Senate and Congressional contests from the ballots, the Senate will advance a bill to ensure that if a court orders a new or later primary, all contests on the ballot must be held on the new date (S6799 (Jackson) / A7168 (Bichotte Hermelyn)). Senate Elections will advance three board of elections modernization bills discussed in detail below S843 (setting minimum board staffing requirements); S5452 (establishing qualifications for commissioners); S570 (regarding removal of commissioners).
The Committee will also consider two bills placed on the agenda by Republicans that would–if actually enacted–require government issued photo ID to be presented when voting, eliminate the non-photo forms of identification permitted by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), and force duly registered voters who cast provisional ballots after failing to show a photo ID to appear within three days at their board of elections with a qualifying photo ID to avoid having their timely-cast ballot suppressed. Those New Yorkers voting by mail would first need access to a printer, to submit a copy of photo ID with their returned ballot (S1885 (Walczyk) / A1927 (Slater) and S2574 (Ortt) / A3302 (Durso)). Notably, the sponsors’ memos accompanying these bills fail to cite any data or evidence of voting irregularities that might justify the significant barriers to access being proposed, but they conclude that requiring photo ID will restore faith and integrity in elections.
Let NY Vote Coalition’s 2025 Albany Advocacy Day Highlights Several New Pro-Voter Priorities
Last week, the Let New York Vote Coalition held a legislative advocacy day in Albany, meeting with dozens of lawmakers to discuss several pro-voter election reform priorities. The Coalition’s 2025 legislative agenda includes proposals to improve New York’s voter registration system; priorities that make voting more accessible and safeguard communities from voter suppression; and bills to modernize and professionalize the administration of elections across New York’s 62 counties.
To improve the accuracy of New York’s voter registration rolls, the Coalition is counting on State Assembly lawmakers to take up A3649B (Taylor) / S1356 (Skoufis), which has passed the Senate unanimously 3 years in a row and directs the State to join a national voter list maintenance organization such as the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Maintaining accurate voter rolls reduces opportunities for foul play and helps maintain confidence in the accuracy of election results. To reduce barriers to voter registration that hinder citizen participation in elections, the Coalition supports a concurrent resolution to restart the amendment process for a State constitutional change that was defeated on the ballot in 2021. The reso would eliminate arbitrary language specifying that registration must be completed ten days before an election, allowing for one-stop voter registration and provisional balloting during the full early voting period, and on election day (see N.Y. Const. Art. II § 5). Currently, one-stop registration and voting is only available on the first “golden day” of the early voting period.
Priorities that make voting more accessible to populations of eligible citizens that typically turn out to vote in disproportionately low numbers include the Student Voter Empowerment Act and the Democracy During Detention Act (DDDA). The former requires public colleges and universities to develop civic engagement action plans that include hosting non-partisan events on campus, providing students with election eligibility and participation info as well as voter registration opportunities, and enrollment in the Tufts National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement. The DDDA will ensure that the thousands of eligible citizens detained pretrial or for low-level offenses across New York who have not lost their right to vote can effectively register and cast a ballot, by establishing a flexible, modern voter access framework designed for populous and less-populous counties and facilities. DDDA requires local election officials to develop facility voter access and security plans in coordination with local corrections officials and have them approved by the State Board. Boards of elections in populous counties must conduct voter registration visits ahead of elections and then deploy either a poll site or a bipartisan absentee ballot collection program, akin to what is done in other congregate settings, like nursing homes and VA hospitals.
A third proposal designed to boost voter participation in local contests will move city elections to even years from odd years. This also shifts judicial elections and elections for various county offices to even-numbered years (county registers, sheriffs, clerks, and DAs). This bill aligns the state Constitution and the law with 2023 legislation that shifted most elections for town, village, and county offices to even years. According to Citizens Union aligning odd-year local elections and judicial races with state and federal contests “will boost turnout, diversify the electorate, and save money”.
Coalition priorities that safeguard communities from voter suppression include a bill that requires a proportional time extender remedy after significant election disruptions–ie, to account for the ‘lost time for voting’ where an emergency or other interruption completely stops voting for more than 15 minutes (S4602A (Gounardes) / A5846 (Gibbs)). This will address a troubling vulnerability in the law brought to light by at least five significant disruptions in recent elections, like a bomb scare in east harlem that took two hours to clear, with no redress for impacted voters at all. Other proposals would update the election law’s ‘challenge’ process, requiring vigilantes attempting to disqualify a duly registered voter’s eligibility at the polls to first identify themselves and complete a challenge affidavit setting forth the basis for the challenge, and whether the challenge is based upon actual knowledge or second-hand information (e.g., S3233 (Kavanagh) / A6354 (Walker)).
Bills to modernize and professionalize election administration include several proposals to improve the quality and performance of those tapped to lead the local boards of election. One bill moving in the Senate on Tuesday directs the state board of elections to establish professional qualifications for election commissioners (S5452 (Comrie)). Another requires new election commissioners to complete a training program on administering elections and operating a local election board (30 hours max), while existing commissioners and certain key staff will be required to complete an annual continuing education course (3 hours max). Failing to complete the training could result in a letter being issued to the county legislature and the party boss who appointed the delinquent commissioner (S1035 Myrie / A1228 Seawright). A third bill requires that election commissioners serve in a full-time role outside NYC (S1087 (Mayer) / A5056 (Jacobson)). A fourth bill prevents election commissioners and their deputies from simultaneously serving as their county party chair, with grandfathering for present incumbents (A3161). Another proposal moving on Tuesday permits the State Board of Elections to remove an election commissioner for incompetence or misconduct (S570 (May) / A2347 (Gallagher)). To improve capacity at the 58 local boards, the coalition supports proportional minimum staffing requirements based on the number of locally registered voters (S843 (May) / A6069 (Hunter)). This bill is on the agenda for Tuesday’s Senate meeting.
Perhaps the most sweeping–though still fairly incremental–proposed board reform would restructure the NYC Board of Elections by reducing the current board leadership from 10 bipartisan lay commissioners (one Democrat and one Republican hailing from each borough) down to two bipartisan commissioners not from the same borough or party (S699 (Krueger) / A1852 (Rozic)). The bill would also delineate the responsibilities of commissioners vis-a-vis the management and operational roles of the executive staff, reduce wasteful duplication of staff roles, and mandate City Council hearings to evaluate candidates for leadership posts. Two bills to improve conditions for poll workers in NYC would raise their pay (S559 (Krueger) / A1993 (Colton)), and exempt their earnings from income taxes (S5142 (Myrie)).
All of this activity means New York could be on the verge of adopting several additional improvements to modernize election administration, enhance the voting experience, and better protect the fundamental rights at stake while endeavoring to make our democracy more equitable and inclusive. But to do so, they also require passage by the Assembly before lawmakers depart in early June.
Governor and Legislature Considering Campaign Finance Law Changes
Several news stories are reporting on how Governor Hochul and legislative leaders are planning to make changes to the state’s relatively new campaign finance law through a budget amendment. As reported in the Albany Times Union by Emilie Munson,
“New changes that Democrats intend to tuck into the state budget are likely to help candidates who have more wealthy donors and incumbents running for office again. They would almost certainly increase the cost of the program, which paid out $34 million to legislative candidates in the 2024 election.
The state budget would make bigger campaign contributions eligible for matching public money. Instead of only contributions up to $250 receiving a match, under the proposed change, the first $250 of contributions up to $1,050 would receive supplementary public dollars.
“Another change would help candidates seeking reelection or running for a second time by allowing them to roll over up to $50,000 in unused funds for future campaigns before they pay surplus money back to the Public Campaign Finance Board, sources with knowledge of the budget deal said. Candidates could roll over funds after the 2026 election, giving them a head-start for 2028.” |
