Assembly takes first step to establish early voting in New York State
Six months after a general election that saw long waits to vote in many polling places, as well as post-Sandy chaos that had voters from areas hard hit by the super-storm scrambling to find a place to cast a vote, the state Assembly is poised to pass legislation to establish early voting in New York State.
The Assembly passage would be the first step in a long process. In order to become law, the bill would have to be passed by the state Senate, approved again by the next legislature and then approved by a majority of voters for the state to institute voting in advance of Election Day – a mechanism that currently exists in 32 states and the District of Columbia.
The bill – whose prime sponsor is Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and which has 16 co-sponsors including Brooklyn Assemblymembers James Brennan, Alec Brook-Krasny, Steven Cymbrowitz, Joseph Lentol, Alan Maisel, Nick Perry and Helene Weinstein — does not yet have a Senate sponsor.