Huffington Post: New York Is One Of The Bluest States In The Country. Its Voting Laws Are Horrendous.

Huffington Post

Originally published in Huffington Post

New York’s confusing primary system is part of a larger set of voting laws and procedure critics say are among the worst in the country and that state lawmakers could easily fix, but haven’t.

″If progressives are not already alarmed at how bad our voting laws are in New York, they should be,” said state Sen. Michael Gianaris, a Democrat who has introduced voting reforms legislation. He added that New York’s voting laws were on par with those in southern states, which have a history of severe voting restrictions, and that passing voting reforms would be a top priority if Democrats take back control of the state Senate in November.

One example of New York’s poor voting laws is the dual primary system. After a federal judge ordered the state to move up its federal primaries to June in 2012, lawmakers never did anything to move the state’s primary so it aligns with the federal one. Had they done that, it would have reduced confusion and save the state some money. In 2016, there were three separate primaries ― one for president, one for federal offices and one for state offices.

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