Let New York Vote Coalition Reissues Call to Invest in Elections in the Final FY 2025 New York State Budget

NEW YORK, NY (04/12/2024) (readMedia)-- In response to New York lawmakers passing another state budget extender this week, the Let New York Vote coalition issued the following statement:

As budget negotiations continue in Albany this week, it's important to keep the focus on efforts to strengthen our state's democracy and support the officials charged with administering free and fair elections. Our state has taken significant steps to stand up for voters in recent years, from reducing barriers to voter registration to providing more convenient balloting options.

The Let New York Vote coalition is counting on the Governor, the Senate, and the Assembly to work together to deliver a comprehensive vision of a modern, high-quality, and inclusive election administration system across our state.

We call on leadership to include the following coalition priorities in the final FY 2025 budget:

• Establishing a centralized statewide voting and elections database and institute, the Dr. John L. Flateau Voting and Elections Database and Academic Center, with an appropriation of $5 million, to enable voters, lawmakers, and election administrators to make evidence-based decisions to ensure equitable voting access for New Yorkers.
• Permitting New York to join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that will improve the quality of our state's voter rolls and the public's faith in the integrity of our election data, with an appropriation of $200,000.
• Funding for local Boards of Elections (BOEs) across the state, including $10 million to fund temporary elections personnel for local election officials, and additional funding to ensure full adequate resources to expand the number of polling sites and to equip them to serve voters in this critical election year.

The Let New York Vote coalition commends our state's leaders for their continued efforts to foster a stronger and more inclusive democracy. We strongly urge them to include these coalition priorities in this year's budget. In this key election year, it's essential that we empower voters and equip local election administrators with the resources they need to serve the voters of New York.