New York is working to protect voting rights amid possible threats to election security in the midterms.
The state included funding to protect poll workers in the 2027 state budget and lawmakers have also considered a series of election security bills. It comes as a new Gallup-Charles F. Kettering Foundation poll found 73% of Americans worry about different parts of the election process.
Derek Barker, senior research initiatives program officer for the foundation, said elected leaders must take it seriously.
“If large numbers of people start to doubt this fundamental process, you could see authoritarianism, political violence become more acceptable, so we think this is a warning sign,” Barker asserted.
The poll reported 67% of respondents worry political leaders will pressure election officials to change election outcomes and 52% are concerned about people gathering near polling sites to intimidate voters or discourage them from casting ballots.
The New York State Senate passed a bill increasing penalties for voter intimidation and prohibiting voter suppression but it failed to pass in the Assembly. Meanwhile, 77% of voters worry about gerrymandering, especially after a redistricting arms race began last year in Texas at the behest of President Donald Trump.
Barker stressed elected officials should use the momentum to enact reforms.
“There could be an opening here for leaders across the spectrum to come together and reach a grand bargain on reform and that would be supported by a very solid majority,” Barker contended.
New York state lawmakers passed a redistricting amendment empowering them to redraw congressional lines mid-decade and redraw their own state districts. A Siena College poll found this measure is widely unpopular and residents strongly oppose it.
The entire legislature must approve the measure again in the 2027 legislative session before it can be put to the voters. If approved in the timeframe, it will be used in the 2028 election cycle.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.