2024

Quand on se bat, on gagne. In 2024, we protected voters and strengthened our elections by:

• Pulling New York out of a dangerous scheme for a federal constitutional convention.
• Fighting back against intentionally deceptive political materials, otherwise known as deepfakes, generated with AI.
• Securing $5 million for local election administration, a huge win for counties ahead of the general election. 

Learn more about our comprehensive legislative agenda and how our bills fared this session.

Read our State Budget testimony (<<< we love funding our elections and state campaign finance)

2023

Session kicked off to a rocky start with the budget passing over a month later than expected. Still, we were able to win some major developments in voting rights and election accessibility for New Yorkers despite the time crunch.

With the help of our activists across the state, we passed:

• The Plain Language Bill – setting standards for language clarity so no New York voter is thrown off by overly complicated wording and jargon on their ballot. This bill removes barriers to voting for non-native English speakers and encourages all voters to feel more informed and confident casting their ballot. Plain Language passed both houses of the legislature unanimously!
• The New York Early Mail Voter Act – establishing a vote by mail system in New York. By giving voters more opportunities to vote in a safe, secure, and accessible way, this bill will increase voter turnout in New York– especially in harder to reach populations like young voters and voters of color.
• The Golden Day Bill – establishing consistent guidelines for New Yorkers to be able to register to vote and vote on the first day of the early voting period. Providing more time to register to vote will lead to more voters turning out for elections.

Find out more about our legislative agenda here.

2022

Our activists took the lead, and we had a tremendous year bolstering the right to vote and strengthening our election laws. Three of our core legislative priorities passed:

• The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York, now the strongest voting rights act in the country!
• Fixing the “Wrong Church” ballot problem which will count affidavit ballots of eligible voters if a voter appears at a polling place in the correct county and Assembly district but in the incorrect election district.
• Reduced the time for mailing and receipt of registration application to a constitutional minimum of 10 days.
• Requiring polling places on college campuses
• Secured $4 million for return postage for absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications
• Ensured the continuation of expanded absentee voting so no voter is choosing between their health and right to vote.

See all of our legislative priorities.

2021

Another banner year for Common Cause New York! Despite the myriad challenges COVID presented for our elections & voters, we were successful in advocating for:

• The “Make Voting Easy Act” which requires that every county has enough early voting places open for long enough hours to meet voter demand
• Streamlined and beefed up the online absentee ballot request portal and tracking system through the state and local boards of elections websites.

In addition, this year we:

• Voting Rights for People on Parole: permanently, automatically restoring voting rights to New York citizens returning home from periods of incarceration (enacted into law)
• Same-day registration (passed twice, now to the ballot): 18 states and DC have Same-Day Registration. Same-Day Registration enables voters to register and vote on election day.
• Expanded absentee voting (passed twice, now to the ballot): No eligible voter should have to provide a reason to be able to vote absentee.

See all of our legislative priorities.