January 14, 2019
Citizens Union, a leading good government group committed to reforming New York City and State government to foster accountability, accessibility, and transparency, issues the following statement from Executive Director Betsy Gotbaum and Board Chair Randy Mastro on the voting reforms passed today by the State Senate and Assembly:
“Today, the Senate and Assembly kept their promise to New Yorkers and passed historic reforms that will protect and expand voting rights in New York State. For too long, New York has had regressive voting laws that depress voter participation. The bills passed today, including for early voting, consolidating federal and local primaries, same day voter registration, no excuse absentee voting and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year olds, have boosted turnout in other states across the country and will be a boon to democracy in New York. These reforms, along with closing the LLC loophole, a necessary change to our campaign finance system, are long overdue and ensuring their passage has been Citizen Union’s top priority.
“We want to thank Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie, as well as the many advocates statewide, for their hard work to bring about today’s reforms, which will help revitalize democracy in New York State.” Governor Cuomo has also supported electoral reform and we urge him to promptly sign these bills.