Let NY Vote Stages First Ever "People's Hearing" on Voting Rights

NEW YORK, NY (05/15/2018) (readMedia)-- As the Legislature considers applicants to appoint to the Office of the Attorney General, the Let NY Vote Coalition will conduct the first ever "People's Hearing" to elevate the voice of the voters.

The hearing will feature testimony on a wide range of voting issues, with lawmakers invited to listen and ask questions. Afterwards, the Let NY Vote Coalition will lobby lawmakers.

The following people are scheduled to testify, list in formation:

- Sean Morales-Doyle, Counsel of the Democracy Program at Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law: Automatic voter registration

- Julie Kerr, Brooklyn Voter Alliance: Early voting

- Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY: Flexibility to change Party affiliation

- Minister Kristin John Foy: restoring voting rights to people on parole

- Brendan Cushing, GenVote @U-Albany: Pre-registration of 16 and 17-year olds

Members of the public are also invited to testify and ask questions.

Background:

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.