New York State has the most restrictive laws in the nation when it comes to party registration changes. The Legislature has passed a bill which would make the deadline much more democratic. The bill awaits your signature, and we respectfully request that you sign it into law as soon as it is delivered to you.
Why is this important?
In 2016, New York’s deadline for switching party registration was Oct. 9, 2015, a whopping 193 days before the primary. The result was to effectively disenfranchise thousands of voters.
Earlier this year, the New York State Democratic Committee voted to fix that. Unfortunately, the Board of Elections determined that legislation was required to make the change. In response, the Assembly and Senate immediately passed, respectively, A8228B and S6352A. These bills would allow previously registered voters to change their party enrollment up to February 14th of the same year of the primary.
We are very pleased at the slate of voting reforms which you signed into law earlier this year expanding, among other things, early voting and same-day voter registration. But this change to the law cannot wait. New Yorkers deserve the right to vote, and to change their party registrations in a reasonable time before the primaries.
