New York Could Add 1 Million Voters in 2013

According to a report by New America Media, new legislation that would modernize New York state's voter registration system could add one million voters to the rolls. Senator Gianaris is the co-sponsor of the legislation.

An estimated one million potential voters could be added to New York state’s rolls should forthcoming legislation be enacted, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. State Sen. Michael Gianaris, the co-sponsor of legislation that would modernize New York’s voter registration system, said his bill “will make it easier for people to vote.” He said he plans to introduce the bill by early June at the latest and, if adopted, it would take effect in 2013.

 

At the heart of the legislation, crafted with assistance from the Brennan Center and other organizations, is a mandated shift from the current paper-based voter registration system to one reliant on electronic records.

 

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Gianaris, a Democrat, who was elected to the New York state Senate in 2010 after serving in the state Assembly since 2000, said he will actively seek Republican co-sponsors in New York’s legislature, but cautioned that incumbents by nature, Republican and Democrat alike, are often resistant to change.

 

“It’s always difficult when one asks those who have been elected under one system, to alter that system,” Gianaris said. “It’s the institutional powers on both sides of the aisle that are opposed to any dramatic changes of the voting franchise.”

Read the full article here.