Issues: Elections

State Senator Jack M. Martins, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Local Government, passed a bill in the Senate to allow villages, school districts and special district to continue to use lever-style voting machines for their local elections and votes.

Lever-style voting machines are widely preferred by villages, school districts and special districts because of their ease and availability as opposed to alternatives, which have been found to be prohibitive both in terms of costs and practicality.

The New York State Senate today passed two bills that would allow for the use of  lever-style voting machines in non-federal elections in New York City, and in elections held by villages, school districts and special districts.Legislation (

State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk and Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, joined by Board of Elections officials from several counties, today announced legislation that would protect New Yorkers’ right to vote and ensure their votes are counted.

One of the measures (S.4270) would prevent affidavit ballots from being disqualified for insignificant, hyper technical reasons, as long as the voter is eligible, registered and in substantial compliance with voting regulations.

“Our democracy will only thrive if citizens participate and vote,” Senator Tkaczyk said. “We should be encouraging residents to get involved in the process and cast their vote, rather than creating unnecessary obstacles that prevent their votes from being counted.”

Squadron: In Aftermath of Scandals, Senate Should Be Ashamed To Block Campaign Finance Reform & Choose Corporate Special Interests Over People

ALBANY – Today, State Senator Daniel Squadron slammed Senate Republicans for blocking his campaign finance reform legislation that would make New York a national leader in the fight against the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision and give people, rather than corporations, a stronger voice in the political process.

The "Corporate Political Activity Accountability to Shareholders Act" (S177) would require shareholder approval for corporate political contributions, public disclosure of the contributions, and justification of the business rationale for making them.

Senate Republicans today announced they will hold a public hearing within the next few weeks to examine New York City’s often abused public finance system amid calls by Democrats and good-government groups to replicate the system statewide.  The hearing will be led by Senate Elections Chair Thomas O’Mara and will include key lawmakers, experts on the City’s public finance system and good government advocates.

The City’s model, which provides candidates with a 6-to-1 taxpayer match, appears rife with abuse.

State Senator David J. Valesky (D-Oneida) and the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) proposed sweeping reforms to New York State’s current campaign finance laws. The IDC’s plan would introduce a comprehensive system of public campaign financing under which all qualifying candidates would be eligible to receive public matching funds. Candidates opting not to participate in the public financing system would be required to participate in a completely overhauled campaign finance system.