New York, one of the most populated states, consistently ranks near the bottom when it comes to voter turnout.

This isn’t a reflection of the people of New York — it’s a reflection of New York’s outdated voting system that makes it incredibly difficult for citizens to fulfill their civic duty.

“It’s crucial to have modernized voting laws in a large state like New York because our system sets a precedent for other states”, said Katie Shanahan, president of Democracy Matters at Syracuse University, in an email.

From start to end, the laws in New York make it difficult to vote every step of the way. If you wanted to register to vote in this year’s midterm elections, you would had to have done so over three weeks in advance — New York is one of only 13 states to not allow early voting. And it’s the only state in the country that holds primaries for state offices and federal offices on different days.

These are outdated voting laws in the most literal sense of the word. A law that requires voters change party affiliation almost a year in advance was made in the early 20th century. The justification was so party bosses couldn’t get all of their friends to change parties right before an election to flip the result. In 2018, this law works to disenfranchise unaffiliated voters who hadn’t decided they wanted to vote in the primary long before it actually happened.

Shanahan said these laws contribute to the extremely low voter turnout rates.

These laws give advantages to incumbents while disenfranchising unaffiliated voters and working class voters. And most importantly, they play a part in the lack of effective representation among elected leaders.

Incumbents in the New York State Senate and elsewhere do not have motivation to change a voting system that is helping them win re-election. Elected leaders who view the well-being of the state as a higher priority than their own re-election would be in support of voting reform, but it appears that New York state elected leaders do not have this view.

New York state currently lags well behind the rest of the country when it comes to voting laws. Allowing early voting and consolidating primary elections would be a big step, but New York should make the decision to become a leader on voting rights.

If New York can work to pass modernized voting laws, such as same-day registration and even automatic registration, New York can boost voter turnout and be a guiding light to the rest of the country.

Nick Turner is a senior political science and policy studies major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at nturner@syr.edu.

Published on November 27, 2018 at 9:19 pm