Reinvent Albany thanks Governor Cuomo for signing Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) into law and State Senator Gianaris and Assemblymember Walker for championing the bills, S.8806/A.8280C.
AVR requires government agencies interacting with New Yorkers whoa re eligible to vote to automatically register them as voters — unless they opt out. New York joins at least 19 other states with AVR. We agree with Assemblymember Walker that “Voting should be easy, efficient, and accessible,” and we hope more voting improvements are on the way in 2021.
We also thank the many advocates who worked hard for AVR, including the Let NY Vote coalition.
According to the Governor’s press release:
The new law designates the Department of Motor Vehicles and other State agencies that interact directly with New York residents to work with the State Board of Elections to integrate agency and voter registration applications. This new, single application will serve as both an application for services and a voter registration application. Only eligible voters may register, and applications will be transmitted to the State Board of Elections with the signature and consent of the applicant. Applicants will also be given the opportunity to choose a political party. Pursuant to changes agreed to by the Legislature, the DMV will come online in 2023, followed by the Department of Health, Department of Labor and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance in 2024. The State University of New York will come online in 2025.
See also Senator Gianaris and Assemblymember Walker’s press release