AG Eric Schneiderman and Hundreds of Advocates to Rally for Early Voting

NEW YORK, NY (03/13/2018) (readMedia)-- On Sunday, March 18th, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and hundreds of advocates will rally for early voting in Foley Square.

Attorney General Schneiderman has been a leader in the fight to reform New York's antiquated voting laws, detailing New York's voter access issues in a 2016 report, and introducing legislation to protect and expand voting rights.

In February, Governor Cuomo announced an historic 30-day amendment to his proposed budget that will provide approximately $7 million to New York counties to offer early voting. The budget will be voted on at the end of this month.

Early voting would allow eligible voters to cast ballots in-person days, sometimes weeks, before an election. Currently, 37 states already have some form of early voting, leaving New York as one of only 13 states without any means to vote early except via absentee ballot.

Background

A Siena Poll released in February shows that 67% of New Yorkers, including 60% of Upstate New Yorkers, 48% of Republicans, and 65% of suburban New Yorkers, support early voting. This percentage is up two points from January

This year, Let NY Vote, formerly known as Easy Elections NY, formed as a statewide coalition of organizations & grassroots groups fighting to modernize New York's elections. The goal is to pass simple solutions in 2018 to improve our elections and remove barriers to registering and voting for all eligible New Yorkers.

The Let NY Vote coalition is made up of over thirty organizations, nonprofits, and labor unions, including Common Cause/NY, Public Citizen, New York State United Teachers, SEIU 32BJ, RWDSU, CWA District 1, as well as the statewide NAACP and the National Action Network, grassroots organizations, faith groups, civil liberties, reproductive and immigrant rights, criminal justice and re-entry groups, New American, and the LGBTQ community. A full list is available at letnyvote.org.