We did it! We finally passed early voting in New York State. Congratulations to us all!

On Monday the legislature passed a package of reforms that included:

Early voting
Same day voter registration
No-excuse absentee voting
Primary Consolidation
Pre-registration for 16 and 17 year olds
State-wide voter registration transfer
Closure of the LLC loophole

Since the 1960’s the League of Women Voters of New York State has fought for comprehensive voting reforms. After nearly three decades of advocating, we are proud to say we’ve done it! As the State League proudly celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, it is a truly monumental achievement to finally see our hard work pay off.

Our work is far from over. Now that these reforms have been passed, we will need to work harder than ever to see them cross the finish line. As the session continues on, we will advocate for funding in the 2019 state budget to cover the cost of early voting. We will monitor forthcoming regulations guiding early voting, pre-registration of 16 and 17 year olds, state-wide voter registration transfer, and closure of the LLC loophole. We will continue to advocate for Constitutional Amendments to allow for same day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting as these amendments must pass in two legislative sessions. Finally, we will fight for reforms that were not passed in this package including automatic voter registration, lowering the party change enrollment deadline, and restoration of voting rights for people on parole.