Mayor Pushes Voter Reform

By DEAN BROWN

With the October 14th deadline for voter registration in New York State looming Mayor Bill de Blasio headed to Brooklyn on Thursday to assist first-time voters with registration at New York City Technical College.         

Afterwards the mayor and a coalition of city council members working to reform the voter registration system with in New York State held a press conference on the campus  to increase voter participation among city residents.

 De Blasio voiced frustration with the current legislation that governs how New Yorkers can vote and when they can register and receive a polling site. The October 14th deadline has been viewed by some as limiting the ability of new and young voter from joining the electoral process.

The  mayor complained about what he saw as a systemic use of legislation to keep state residents in various districts of the state from exercising their right to vote, for instance by not using the internet to collect and store voter information to register more voters.

 “This is not an accident it was done this way to discourage participation.,” he said. “There is a difference between interest and participation.”

During the last legislative cycle three of the four proposals to update and fix the voting system were ratified by the State assembly.  De Blasio, who supported two of the bills, also spoke in favor of adopting early voting for for sixteen and seventeen year getting learners permits from the DMV. On a federal level he urged congress to extend the deadline to register until Election Day. One the biggest hurdles to overcome would be adopting a remote voting system which would allow people to cast ballots without having to travel to polling sites.

Many organization have united with ultimate goal of one hundred percent participation in the election process in the state. This has been viewed as a major challenge since New York State is ranked 44th of  states in voter turnout.

Photo by Dean Brown