New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is teaming with the state’s good government groups and other elected officials to introduce a voting access reform law. Schneiderman says the New York Votes Act will streamline the voter process, increase voter turnout and boost registration.
In brief, it would allow early voting in New York, allow online and same day voter registration and shorten party registration deadlines. It would also require the state elections board to create a “permanent” voter registration system that updates the registration of consenting voters automatically when they move to a new address.
Finally, the law would set uniform voting hours across New York. Current law lets primary voters in New York City and seven other counties start voting at 6:00 a.m. For everyone else across the state the polls don’t open until noon.
Most of this comes straight from the attorney general’s report on problems New Yorkers faced in the 2016 primary and general elections: