December 22, 2017 | Gotham Gazette
By Rachel Silberstein
The 13th proposal of the governor’s developing 2018 State of the State speech, the advertising transparency and cybersecurity initiatives are joined by three voting reform measures that were introduced by [Governor Andrew] Cuomo last year but did not pass: early voting, automatic voter registration, and same-day voter registration….
After the legislative session, the governor did sign an executive order expanding the list of agencies required to provide voting registration assistance, but advocates said that the order could have gone further. For example, they say, a task force assembled by Cuomo to explore the implementation of these new rules could also study the costs and benefits of more meaningful electoral reform—-such as early voting and automatic registration—-in order to better sell the proposals to legislative leaders in 2018.
If passed, Cuomo’s early voting proposal would allow eligible New Yorkers to cast ballots up to 12 days before Election Day. Automatic voter registration would automatically register anyone who comes in contact with the Department of Motor Vehicles or other government agency unless the person chooses to opt-out, and same-day registration would allow New Yorkers to register to vote when going to the polls to cast their ballots.
