Early Voting Will Start In New York This Fall

NEW YORK — New Yorkers will be able to vote early for the first time this fall under a new law Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed Thursday.

The law — which makes New York the 39th state to adopt some form of early voting — sets up a nine-day period in which voters cast ballots before Election Day. It will take effect in time for the Nov. 5 general election, in which the offices of public advocate and Queens district attorney will be up for grabs.

The measure was signed alongside four other electoral reforms that state lawmakers passed last week. Making voting easier was a priority for Democrats who took control of the entire state Legislature this month.

"We have more to do, but the reforms that we're talking about today ... are going to make a really, really big difference," Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a news conference.

Early voting will start on the tenth day before an election and close it on the second day before the election. The measure will give voters two full weekends in which to cast ballots before Election Day, though several states start early voting two weeks or more in advance.

Counties will have flexibility in setting early voting times but will be required offer a certain number of hours, lawmakers have said.

Cuomo also signed bills to combine the state and federal primary elections in June; allow 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote; transfer voters' registration when they move to a different part of the state; and tighten restrictions on political contributions from limited liability companies.

The Legislature has also passed bills to allow same-day registration and no-excuse absentee voting through state constitutional amendments. But voters would have to approve those measures no earlier than November 2021.

Taken together, the legislation is a significant update to New York's voting laws, which previously lagged behind many other states. The problems were brought into focus when many New York City voters experienced chaos and long waits at the polls on last year's midterm Election Day.

Cuomo has said he wants to go further by making Election Day a holiday, expanding voting hours upstate, banning corporate contributions, and establishing automatic and online voter registration.

The governor signed the bills alongside the actor Ben Stiller, who reportedly helped Democratic state Sen. Andrew Gounardes last year in his successful campaign to unseat former Republican Sen. Marty Golden.

"These laws are a very important step and are setting an example not just in the state, but for the federal government as well as to what we should be doing in terms of having people have the access to voting so that they can really determine their future," said Stiller, who directed a recent TV miniseries about a 2015 upstate prison break.

Before giving his sincere praise, Stiller joked that he was announcing his appointment as Cuomo's acting chief of staff.

"I look at my total lack of government experience as a plus," he said.

(Lead image: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed five electoral reforms on Thursday alongside the actor Ben Stiller. Photo from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Office/Flickr)