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New Yorkers can register to vote and cast their ballot on the same 'golden' day
By
Brigid Bergin
Published May 24, 2023
Modified May 24, 2023
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Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Brigid Bergin
Published May 24, 2023
Modified May 24, 2023
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A recent change in state election law is creating a new opportunity for New Yorkers to register to vote and cast their ballots on the same day.
June 17, which voting rights advocates have dubbed the Golden Day, marks the first time New Yorkers can both register and vote on the same day for the upcoming June 27 primary because the start of early voting overlaps with the registration deadline.
But at the same time, advocates say there needs to be a clear set of instructions for how local election boards should confirm a voter is eligible to register and then subsequently count their vote.
WNYC senior politics reporter Brigid Bergin describes Golden Day ahead of the June primary:
The overlapping day's potential complications present the latest challenge confronting local elections officials, who have been on the front lines of implementing a raft of new election policies since 2019 and can become deadlocked when they have different policy interpretations because of the election boards' bipartisan makeup.
Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York and the head of the Let NY Vote Coalition, said the state Board of Elections and lawmakers in Albany haven’t communicated a consistent set of procedures on how to tackle the dual items.
“The problem is without guidance from the Legislature, we have 58 different boards of elections and each county or city board might decide to interpret their responsibilities under the law one way, and then their neighboring county might interpret it another way,” said Lerner. “We would like to see a law passed which provides uniformity for the procedures across the state.”
June 17's Golden Day is a byproduct of a law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last December, which moved the date when a person could register to vote from 25 days before an election to 10 days, as mandated by the state constitution. The shift created one day where the voter registration deadline overlaps with the first day of early voting, which runs for nine days with one day off before an election.
The opportunity to register and vote on the same day only applies to people who are new voters and do not currently appear on New York's voter rolls.
Across the country, 22 states have so-called Golden Days because they also have same-day voter registration according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In 2021, New York voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have expanded voter rights and changed the state constitution to allow for same-day voter registration after the state’s Republican and Conservative parties worked together to campaign against the amendment. There was also a multimillion-dollar ad campaign against the proposed amendment, which included funding from billionaire Ron Lauder.
A person can register to vote in New York if the individual is a U.S. citizen, a resident at their New York address for 30 days or more, not in prison for a felony conviction and 18 at the time of the election. New York allows the preregistration of 16 and 17-year-olds, but they have to be 18 to vote.
To vote in a primary election, a person must register to vote as a member of a party that is holding a primary. For voters who are already registered but want to change their party affiliation, that deadline was Feb. 14. The Golden Day only applies to people who are new to the New York voter rolls, like those who just turned 18 or those who moved to New York at least 30 days ago from out of state.
One bill in the state Legislature would create a clear set of procedures for local boards to follow on the June 17 Golden Day. The proposal relies on the state’s existing affidavit ballot procedures since the envelopes include a voter registration form on the outside.
Assemblymember Robert Carroll, a Brooklyn Democrat who also sponsored the bill that moved the voter registration deadline, introduced legislation that would make it clear that these new voters can use an affidavit ballot at their early voting site to both register and vote on a Golden Day like June 17.
“So one stop shopping, making it easier to vote,” said Carroll. “It will codify and solidify that right for New Yorkers.”
If the Legislature does not pass additional measures to clarify the procedures for the overlapping day next month, local election boards may need to rely on guidance handed down from the state Board of Elections.
State election board spokesperson Jennifer Wilson said the agency is working on procedures for local boards to follow and would communicate that information soon. She did not have a date for when that information would be shared with them.
Wilson did say that the state’s launch of a new online voter registration system was still on track for May 31, which could offer voters another way to register in advance of the June 17 deadline. The new system will allow any eligible voter to register online, even if they don't have an account with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
For now, local officials are coming up with their own plans for how to handle new voters on the upcoming Golden Days.
“We don't subscribe to the nomenclature of ‘Golden Day’,” said Vincent Ignizio, the deputy executive director of the New York City Board of Elections. But he said the city is preparing for voters who show up at local Board of Elections offices to register, register online, or just go straight to their early voting site and register and vote using an affidavit ballot.
Dustin Czarny, the Democratic commissioner for the Onondaga Board of Elections, said they are also planning to rely on the affidavit ballot system unless the state Legislature or state Board of Elections advises them otherwise.
“Affidavit is the right tool for it. It allows time to double check all things later in the electoral process,” said Czarny. “If anybody applies that is not eligible, then we can use the affidavit process to reject either their ballot or a portion of it if they’re at the wrong polling place.”
There will be another Golden Day on Oct. 28, which is the deadline to register to vote and the first day of early voting for the Nov. 7 general election.
Tagged
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new york state
Politics
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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