Republicans and Democrats often disagree when it comes to efforts to expand voter participation and protect against voter fraud. So it’s no shocker that Onondaga County’s two elections commissioners are taking opposite sides on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to allow people to vote up to 12 days before Election Days and to automatically register people as voters when they obtain or renew a driver’s license. In his proposed state budget on Wednesday, Cuomo pointed out that New York’s voter turnout rate was the 44th lowest of 50 states in the 2012 presidential election. He noted that 37 other states allow voters to cast ballots in person early, before Election Day, to encourage people to vote when its convenient for them to get to the polls.
The governor proposed allowing registered New Yorkers to vote at the polls up to 12 days before any Election Day in every county in the state, with counties required to open one early voting polling site for every 50,000 residents.
And he called on the state Legislature to make New York just the third state in the country where people are automatically registered as voters when they obtain or renew a New York driver’s license.
Full Article: Cuomo pitches early voting before elections, automatic registration of drivers | syracuse.com.