Common Cause/NY Responds to Nick Langworthy's Lies About Proposals 1, 3, and 4

NEW YORK, NY (10/22/2021) (readMedia)-- Nick Langworthy, chair of the New York State Republican Committee, is on a statewide "'Just Say No" tour, spreading false claims to dupe New Yorkers into voting no on Proposals 1, 3, and 4, which would make New York's redistricting process more fair and increase voter access across the state. In response, Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY, said:

"Mr. Langworthy is making false claims. 34 states plus Washington, D.C. have no-excuse absentee voting, and 20 states plus Washington, D.C. have same-day voter registration. Many of these states even have Republican-led legislatures like Alaska, Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, and more. And contrary to Mr. Langworthy's scare tactics, there is no evidence that any of these pro-voter reforms lead to anything other than fair, reliable elections. Why should voters in Buffalo or Brooklyn be denied the same voting opportunities voters in two-thirds of the nation enjoy? At Common Cause/NY we think voters shouldn't have to cut through red tape to make their voices heard, unlike Mr. Langworthy who seems to want to silence New Yorkers."

Here are the facts about proposals 1, 3, and 4:

Proposal 1 will reform the redistricting process to create districts that put New Yorkers before politicians. It will:

• Guarantee that political districts include all residents regardless of citizenship status - as originally intended in the U.S. Constitution - for the purposes of redistricting. While this is current practice, enshrining this into the state constitution will ensure that New Yorkers are protected if federal law excludes noncitizens from the Census.
• Enshrine a ban on prison-based gerrymandering in the state constitution, thus ensuring that incarcerated people are not used as political pawns.
• Adjust the redistricting timeline so that final maps will be finished in time for 2022 candidates to make a decision and begin circulating nominating petitions in the actual districts they will run in. Because New York's primaries were moved in 2019 from September to June, if Proposal 1 does not pass, the timeline for finalizing maps will be out of sync with the election cycle.
• Reduce the ability of political parties to manipulate the mapmaking process by freezing the number of State Senators at 63. The State Legislature has decided in the last 3 redistricting cycles to change the number of senators for partisan advantage.
• Get rid of the need for the Independent Redistricting Commission's co-executive directors to represent each party, in favor of co-executive directors elected by a majority vote of the bipartisan commission. This will not only simplify the commission's process, but reduce the State Legislature's control over the mapmaking process, emphasize skills over party affiliation, and minimize partisan bias.
• Require a uniform vote to approve maps, regardless of which parties are in control of the State Legislature. Currently, a two-thirds vote is required to approve maps if one party controls the legislature, and a simple majority is required if there is bipartisan control. This complicates the map approval process, acting as a pseudo-filibuster when a two-thirds vote is required. Proposal 1 will eliminate the shifting standards for map approval based solely on election outcomes and replace them with one clear, unchanging standard.

Proposal 3 means no more voter registration deadlines. The most reliable way to increase voter turnout is with a combination of early voting (which New York already has) and eliminating the unfair and unnecessary disenfranchisement that is caused by arbitrary voter registration deadlines. New York has two different voter registration deadlines: one is the 10 day cutoff in the state constitution that Proposal 3 would eliminate, and the other is the 25 day cutoff that is part of state law. The first step to doing away with voter registration deadlines and ultimately paving the way for implementing same-day voter registration in New York is passing Proposal 3, which will eliminate the 10 day cutoff for voter registration in the state constitution.

Proposal 4 would make voting more accessible for all New Yorkers by allowing voters to request an absentee ballot, no excuse needed. The pandemic led to expanded absentee voting, allowing over 1.5 million people in 2020 to vote by citing "temporary illness" as their excuse to request an absentee ballot. However, that will end this year, and New York's more restrictive absentee voting laws, which require voters to prove they will either be out of town or otherwise incapacitated to vote in person, will be back in force. Typically, only 3-5% of voters met these eligibility requirements. Proposal 4 would delete these narrow requirements from the constitution and have New York join the 34 states and Washington, D.C. that allow no-excuse absentee voting.