NY AG: NY's election laws are 'ridiculous'

[portlander23]

NY AG: NY's election laws are 'ridiculous'
Joseph Spector
WGRZ

New York's elections laws are outdated and limit access to voters, leading to a record number of complaints during the state's presidential primary in April, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman charged Tuesday.

Schneiderman said his office received 1,500 calls from upset voters during the April primary because New York doesn't allow for same-day voting and doesn't let voters easily change parties. New York also has a closed primary system, meaning people can't vote in a primary unless they are registered in the party.

New York has about 2.5 million voters not enrolled in a party who couldn't vote in the primary, which likely hurt Sanders' results.

Other reforms Schneiderman called for include same-day registration; a permanent voter registration even if a person moves within the state; and early voting, which is done in 37 states.

As we're seeing with the recount, election day is too late to fix voting problems. Now's the time to get things in line for the next election.

[hrmjustin]

1. I doubt anything will be fixed in this state.

[elleng]

2. I suspect this is true in many states.

I don't know when was the last time our POTUS election results were accurate, and I don't expect them to be so in my lifetime.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. I HATE open primaries. Whatever is the point of a Republican choosing our...

Democratic candidates? Or vice-versa?

And New York does allow easy party changes, just not irresponsible ones. Fill out a form, send it in on time, and you've changed your registration. If you can't handle that, maybe you can't find your way to the polling place.

I know some states have same day registration, but most counties I'm aware of would consider the management of it overwhelming. We have enough trouble with people who move and have to deal with thousand of provisional and affidavit ballots as it is. New York leaves registration and voting in the hands of the counties, and my county has permanent registration-- the problem is when you leave the county. I don't know how you would deal with that without either improving inter-county communication and sharing voter rolls, or changing state law drastically.

Now we do have some ridiculous things that are designed to stop people from running and keep the same people in office. Our signature rituals top the list, but no one bothers to bring up that sort of thing when complaining about voting.

Schneiderman knows all this, but it's time for a few quick press bites that will be forgotten by next week.

[Renew Deal]

4. I don't have a problem with closed primaries. But the "other reforms" all make sense.

Closed primaries make sense, though same day registration might solve that problem.