Senate Announces Joint Public Hearing on the Implementation of Early Voting

(Albany, NY) The Senate today announced that a joint hearing with the State Assembly will be held on Wednesday, November 20, to examine the recent implementation of early voting in New York State’s 2019 general election. This hearing - to be chaired by Senate and Assembly Committee Chairs Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie and Assemblymember Charles Lavine - will offer legislators an opportunity to receive testimony and ask questions of election administrators, advocates and other stakeholders.

“New Yorkers throughout the state took the opportunity to cast their votes early during this past election,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said.  “We have a responsibility to empower more eligible New York voters to have their voices heard in the halls of power and the rollout of early voting helped demonstrate how we can achieve that goal. I commend Election Committee Chairs Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie and Assemblymember Charles Lavine for organizing this hearing to review successful early voting practices and determine ways we can improve its implementation going forward.” 

Chair of the Elections Committee, Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie said, “The beginning of Early Voting marks a historic moment in New York. Knowing that this is a first for our state, we believed it was important to implement it during a lower-scale general election so that we could work out the kinks now. With this hearing, we have the opportunity to discuss what went right and what went wrong, ensuring that we are fully prepared for the most consequential election of our lifetime in November 2020.”

The hearing will be in Manhattan on Wednesday, November 20 at 10:00 AM in the Senate Hearing Room, 250 Broadway, 19^th Floor, New York, NY 10007.  Oral testimony is by invitation only. To submit written testimony please email Edline Jacquet at jacquet@nysenate.gov.