Adjunct Professor Jerry H. Goldfeder co-authored an op-ed in New York Law Journal regarding election law reform in New York.
Albany is being applauded for enacting several popular pro-voter reforms, including taking the first step in amending the state constitution to allow voters to register and vote on Election Day without a waiting period, and permitting New Yorkers to vote by mail without restrictions or conditions. These changes require passage by two successive legislatures and a voter referendum. If all goes according to plan, then by 2022 New Yorkers will enjoy convenient voting procedures that many voters across the country already have.
Albany passed two additional reforms that were also a long time coming: “early voting” and a June (rather than September) primary election.Early voting in New York is way overdue—three dozen other states permit it. In fact, New York was recently embarrassed by that bastion of restrictive voting procedures, North Carolina. In defending itself in federal court for imposing a new round of voting obstacles, North Carolina noted the fact that New York lacked early voting opportunities. Albany finally has rectified this.