MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT

February 12, 2009                                                                              

Citizen Action of New York strongly supports the following bill:

A.3315-A (Early Voting Act)  Lancman

Citizen Action, a membership organization that organizes for social, racial, economic and environmental justice with over 20,000 members in 7 chapters and affiliates throughout the state, strongly supports this bill, known as the “Early Voting Act.”  The bill would allow the public to vote by paper ballot at their local county board of elections or at an alternative location designated by the board of elections up to fourteen business days before a general, primary or special election.   

Early voting has already been enacted by a majority of states and, of course, was extensively used during the recent high-turnout Presidential election with great success.  It was been implemented successfully in, for example, Chicago and Los Angeles, demonstrating that it is feasible and beneficial in large cities like New York City, Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester.

Early voting provides a convenient alternative for voters with special needs or extenuating circumstances that make it difficult for them to be at the polls, including single parents with young children, elderly, sick, or disabled people and their care-givers, and those who work split shifts or long shifts.  Passage of this legislation would prevent such individuals from becoming disenfranchised, and increase voter turnout and civic participation.   It is equally attractive to urban residents who may be deterred from voting by expected long lines at the polls on the regular election day, and rural residents that are sometimes unable to get to the polls that day due to the unavailability of transportation and inclement weather.

Early voting also has great benefits as to elections administration.  It alleviates the strain of conducting the election on one day only, reducing lines on the regular election day for high-visibility elections, and allowing problems in elections administration to be addressed over a longer period of time.

As A.3315-A would increase greatly enhance voter participation and increase the integrity of the elections process, Citizen Action strongly urges enactment.

Please contact Jessica Wisneski at (845) 901-0264 or at jwisneski@citizenactionny.org or Bob Cohen at (518) 465-4600 x104 or at bcohen@citizenactionny.org with any questions.