Why New Yorkers may soon be automatically registered to vote

Chad Arnold
New York State Team

ALBANY – Senate Democrats on Thursday kicked off the new legislative session the same way they did last year: By passing a series of bills aimed at making it easier to vote in New York.

On Thursday, lawmakers laid out a series of proposals they said would build on reforms passed last year, including automatic voter registration, which would register any eligible voter in the state when they interact with certain state agencies unless they chose to opt-out. 

"We are going to begin with bills that make it easier to vote and continue to have another outstanding and progressive year that understands what New Yorkers want," Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, said Thursday.

The Senate approved a version of the bill last year but it was withdrawn before the Assembly could approve it due to a technical error that would have registered undocumented immigrants in the state to vote. 

Cuomo said he would have vetoed the measure due to the error.

The "typographical error" has since been fixed and provisions have been added to strengthen the measure to ensure ineligible voters aren't registered to vote, Sen. Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, said at an Albany press conference.

"Not only did we fix the typo problem but we made it stronger in other ways," he said. 

Sen. Michael Gianaris at a Thursday press conference in Albany where he spoke about his bill on automatic voter registration.

If signed into law, the measure would take effect in two years.

Democrats are hoping to pass the updated legislation, along with series of other reforms, this session. The bill now heads to the Assembly, which is two-thirds Democratic.

But Senate Republicans railed against the measure, saying it doesn't do enough to protect against undocumented immigrants — who can now apply for driver's licenses in New York — illegally registering to vote.

What would the new bill do? 

The updated legislation would automatically register eligible voters unless they choose to opt-out when they seek certain state services.

That includes anyone who applies for a license or non-drive identification through a local Department of Motor Vehicle or who applies for benefits through the Department of Health.

The agencies would then electronically transfer a person's information to the state Board of Elections which will automatically add their name to the voting rolls unless a person chooses to opt-out.

Undocumented immigrants and other ineligible voters would be required to check an "opt-out box" before applying for a driver's license — addressing issues in the law from last year.

The updated bill included new provisions that puts the onus on both agencies from knowingly transmitting voter information to the state Board of Elections if they have information that a person is not eligible to vote, Gianaris said. 

"We have somewhere between 1 million and 2 million New Yorkers who are eligible voters who are not on the roles and this will go a long way towards taking New York from worst to first in our voter participation," Gianaris said. 

Preventing fraud

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins at a Thursday press conference in Albany where Senate Democrats laid out a series of bills aimed at bolstering voter turnout in the state.

But Republicans said the new reforms do little to ensure undocumented immigrants are not being registered to vote and is a "deprivation of someone's civil liberties" who don't wish to be registered, said Senate Minority Leader John Flanagan, R-Suffolk County.

Republicans also argued the proposal would lead to voter fraud because it would enroll anyone regardless of whether they have submitted a signature — which is the only form of identification used at polling stations in New York. 

Those registered to vote without a signature would be sent a standard paper form to sign within 10 days. The voter must then submit the completed form with their signature either in person or by mail.

If a signature is not submitted, a person would not be given a ballot on election day, according to the bill. 

The Legislature, Flanagan said during a floor debate on the measure, should be addressing the state's newly enacted criminal justice reforms instead of rehashing voting reforms.

"New York state is at a crisis as we speak," he said. 

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said Democrats in the Legislature's lower chamber are committed to approving an automatic voter registration system, but they're hoping for some minor changes before they pass the bill.

"We are just as committed to the Senate on automatic voter registration, but we still have some technical changes," Heastie told reporters.

Other pieces of legislation 

The bill was part of a package of voting-reform measures approved by the Democrat-led Senate on Thursday.

Among them were bills that add polling places on college and university campuses and require each county to have early voting access in its most populated municipality. 

Last year, lawmakers passed a series of reforms they said would remove voting barriers and increase voter turnout.

Among the changes were approval of early voting, consolidation of the state's primary days and allowing 16 and 17 year olds to preregister to vote. 

Advocates praised the new legislation, saying it will help "remove barriers to voting."

"We're very excited to see automatic voter registration and the placement of polling places on college campuses," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.

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CGARNOLD@gannett.com