Electoral reform in New York refers to efforts to change the voting and election laws in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

State. In 2021, the New York State Legislature asked members of New York state through means of ballot proposals, all of which were denied by voters.

Alternate voting systems

In 1936, voters in New York City adopted the single transferable vote method of proportional representation. In the election immediately preceding STV's adoption, the Democrats won 95.3% of the seats on the Board of Aldermen with only 66.5% of the vote. In 1941, proportional representation gave the Democrats 65.5% of the seats on 64% of the vote, with the Republicans and three smaller parties also gaining seats in proportion to their voting strength. The system has since been repealed. However, the Conservative Party and Liberal Party continue to participate in the electoral system through

electoral fusion Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. It is distinct from the process of electoral alliances in that the political parties remain separat ...

Expansion of the electorate

New York disenfranchises felons both while they are in prison and while they are on parole. The

Sentencing Project The Sentencing Project is a Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy center working for Decarceration in the United States, decarceration in the United States and seeking to address Race in the United States criminal justice system, racial dis ...

favors restoring these rights. New York allows

absentee ballot An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online votin ...

s for "registered voters who cannot make it to the polls on Election Day because of occupation, business, studies, travel, imprisonment (other than a convicted felon), illness, disability and hospitalization or resident in a long term care facility".

Allocation of electoral votes

In both 2006 and 2007, bills were introduced in the New York Legislature to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and award the state's 31 electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. Both proposals failed. The legislation later succeeded in 2014 when New York joined the compact.

Ballot access

A new party or independent candidate may gain ballot access for one election by collecting a set number of petition signatures for each office (or 5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent election in the jurisdiction, if that is lower). A new party that wins 130,000 votes or 2% of the vote in the previous gubernatorial election or presidential election is recognized statewide as a political party and qualifies to participate in primary elections for two years. This total can be and often is obtained through

. Candidates may gain access to primary election ballots by being "designated" by a relevant committee of the party or collecting signatures equal to 5 percent of the party's enrollment in the jurisdiction, up to a set number for each office. A candidate seeking the nomination of a party to which she or he does not belong – e.g. for purposes of fusion – must be authorized by a relevant committee of the party. Reformers would like to see the ballot access laws loosened.

2021 ballot proposals

During the

2021 New York state elections The 2021 New York state elections were held on November 2, 2021. In addition to the standard local elections, many seats for the New York Supreme Court were to be filled in addition to ballot proposals regarding changing state electoral rules and ...

, several ballot proposals were provided. Ballot proposals #1 ("Making Various Changes to Redistricting Process"), #3 ("Allow Legislature to Pass Some-Day Voter Registration"), and #4 ("Allow Legislature to Pass No-Excuse Absentee Voting"), were all related to electoral reform. In accordance with the New York State Constitution, a referendum must be given before the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

moved for reforms. All the above proposals were rejected by voters. The results were as follows:

References

External links

Fairvote New York
{{U.S. political divisions electoral reform

Politics of New York (state)