jwhittaker@post-journal.com
If there is going to be automatic voter registration in New York state, Assemblyman Andrew Goodell and a smattering of his Republican colleagues want to see additional state agencies enrolling voters.
The state Assembly last week passed A.2574, sponsored by Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, D-Brooklyn, to amend the automatic voting registration legislation passed in 2020.
The updated legislation begins automatic voter registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles on Jan. 1, 2023, followed by the state Health Department, state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, state Labor Department, Office of Adult Career and Continuing Education Services Vocational Rehabilitation, county and city social services departments and the New York City Housing Authority on Jan. 1, 2024. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, automatic voter registration will begin on SUNY campuses.
Gov Andrew M Cuomo signs law permitting automatic voter registration newsday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dec. 23, 2020 2:09 pm ET
New Yorkers will be automatically registered to vote when they interact with an array government agencies under a new law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that supporters say will increase voter participation.
The automatic voter registration law, which takes effect in 2023, would require the state’s departments of motor vehicles, health and labor as well as county and city-run social-service agencies to automatically register people to vote when they do things like apply for a driver’s license.
If a citizen is already registered to vote, the agency will work with the state Board of Elections to update their voting address when performing any number of other governmental transactions. A citizen must attest that they are eligible to vote, and may opt not to have their information shared with elections officials.
NY s Automatic Voter Registration Law Hailed As Profound Reform To Elections
arrow At P.S. 93 in Brooklyn on November 3, 2020 Scott Lynch / Gothamist
Governor Andrew Cuomo gave a holiday present to voting rights advocates on Tuesday signing the state’s first automatic voter registration (AVR) bill into law. Now eligible voters will automatically be registered when they interact with multiple state and city agencies that already collect the information required by the State Board of Elections.
New York now joins 18 other states plus the District of Columbia with a policy that makes AVR the default option, requiring people who are eligible to vote to opt out if they do not want to register, instead of opting in.