State lawmakers are expected to take up on Monday a package of bills and a pair of constitutional amendments designed to make it easier to cast a vote in New York.
The bills will include measures for early voting, combining the state and federal primaries, a bill that would make voting easier for people who have moved and pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-old prospective voters, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in an interview on WCNY’s The Capitol Pressroom.
An additional bill would close the loophole in state election law that allows donors to give an unlimited amount of money through a web of limited liability companies.
The Legislature is also expected to pass constitutional amendments for same-day registration and no-excuse absentee voting.
The bills will be passed a day before the 90th anniversary of the birth of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The legislation is the harbinger of a flurry of activity expected in the coming weeks in Albany as lawmakers take up additional bills to strengthen abortion rights and gun control measures.
“I think in the core the governor’s Democratic principles, Andrea and her Democratic principles and the Assembly and its Democratic principles will be on the same page for most things,” Heastie said.
The measures were included in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s agenda for the first 100 days of the new year and is expected to sign them if approved.
“We’re very excited that key voting reforms that are part of the Governor’s 100-day agenda will taken up by the legislature on Monday,” said Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor to Cuomo. “We look forward to working with them to go further and enact public campaign financing, make Election Day a state holiday and ban corporate contributions once and for all.”
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