Queens orgs urge “aye” votes on ballot questions

Queens residents will be able to vote on three amendments to the state constitution in the fall. Eagle file photo by David Brand

By Rachel Vick

A handful of Queens organizations joined a total of 50 groups state-wide raising the call for voters to support a number of ballot questions included in the November election intended to support voting rights.

The three actions — same-day voter registration, no-fault absentee voting and a number of redistricting reforms — all passed in the state legislature and await citizen approval.

"These three ballot questions offer critical reforms to increase voter access and improve democracy in New York," said Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road New York. "A 'yes' vote on each of these questions is a vote for ensuring that immigrant, Black, brown, and working-class community members' voices will be heard at the polls and in the redistricting process."

Same-day voter registration would lift the requirement that people must register at least 10 days before an election, and the no-excuse absentee voting amendment would allow any registered voter to vote via absentee ballot.

The redistricting reforms seek to clarify the process and open the door for a more comprehensive count for the next census.  Incarcerated people would be counted at the place of their last residence, not where they are in prison, and the state would be required to count all residents regardless of citizenship status if the federal census does not.

It would also change the vote thresholds for adopting redistricting plans when one political party controls both legislative chambers, move up the timeline for redistricting and cap the number of state senators at 63.

“We’re dealing with a process set up by Republicans when they had (Senate) control to achieve a specific partisan result,” Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris told Buffalo News when the measure first passed. ”What we’re doing is removing the partisan bias in this process.” 

Co-signers include VOCAL-NY, New York Communities for Change and Central Queens Redistricting Coalition.

“These measures will clarify and improve the redistricting process this year, when Census data have been delayed due to the prior federal administration’s bungling, and in the future,” the letter says. “While the state remains far from the gold standard of a nonpartisan redistricting process — for which we will continue to advocate in advance of the next decennial census — this is a step in the right direction.”