ALBANY — Democrats in the state Senate are taking another step towards making it easier for New Yorkers to vote.
After passing a series of sweeping voter reforms earlier this year, Dems will seek input on boosting voter turnout by instituting automatic voter enrollment at a May 30 hearing in the state capital, the Senate Majority will announce on Monday.
Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the Elections Committee, will lead a panel of lawmakers as they hear from experts and officials and weigh the creation of an automatic voter registration system.
“Automatic Voter Registration is a straightforward and evidenced-backed policy that would remove barriers between voters and the ballot box and make it easier for people to make their voices heard,” Myrie said in a statement.
Automatic voter registration has passed in 15 states and the District of Columbia in recent years, including in neighboring New Jersey last year.
The system, typically run through a state’s motor vehicle department, has boosted registration across the board, according to multiple studies.
In Georgia, which started automatically signing up voters three years ago, more than 681,000 newly registered voters are now on the books, according to a study by the Brennan Center.
Earlier this legislative session, Democrats, in control of both chambers in Albany for the first time in a decade, passed several voter-friendly bills meant to increase New York’s abysmally low voter turnout, including early voting, same-day registration, the consolidation of state and local primaries and a law requiring the state to convert from paper to electronic poll books.
A bill proposed by Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) would automatically add a person’s name to the voter rolls when they interact with state government agencies unless they choose to opt out.
The state Motor Vehicles and Health departments or even public colleges would transfer information on eligible voters they deal with to the state Board of Elections, which would then send a postcard to those people, giving them a chance to select a political party or decline registration.
“With voting rights under siege throughout the country, automatic voter registration is necessary to increase access to our democratic process. I look forward to hearing from New Yorkers so we can craft the nation’s best AVR proposal and enhance everyone’s right to vote.”
