The Independent View: National Voter Registration Day

Today is National Voter Registration Day, and in addition to using this day for signing up new voters, we should consider this day as an opportunity to begin the conversation about revamping and modernizing local voting laws.

Eric Adams the Borough President of Brooklyn in New York City writes:

We should consider this day as an opportunity to begin the conversation about revamping and modernizing local voting laws. What can be done to increase turnout and promote the importance of voting in an election for New Yorkers?

He writes:

In New York State, Election Day occurs on a Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., a time-frame that poses challenges to many working voters, especially those with families. There is the option to register as an absentee voter and mail in your ballot ahead of Election Day, removing that barrier of having to allocate time to show up at the local polling station. Unfortunately, New York State utilizes byzantine rules to qualify for voting absentee; according to the New York State Board of Elections, you can qualify only if you are not presently in the city or county that you normally vote in during Election Day or are physically unable to show up to your local voting precinct.

Compare this approach to a state like California, where there are no special qualifications to become an absentee voter and you can register as a “permanent vote-by-mail-voter.” This policy engages college students to participate in the public sphere as well as saves time for working voters, leading to opportunities for increased turnout. Not coincidentally, California has recorded higher voter turnout rates than New York, such as in the 2012 general election.

Additionally, eight states—including Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia—have a same-day voter registration policy, and several more will be joining these ranks over the next two years. Would it surprise you to learn that, based on turnout figures from that same 2012 general elections, all of these states had greater participation than New York?

On top of adopting the policies mentioned from other states, we can alter the public calendar of what days an election for state and local offices fall on. We could change our election days to a different day of week; consider that a large number of democracies, such as Japan, France and Argentina, hold their voting on Sundays.

Another idea could be increasing the voting period from 15 hours on a Tuesday to voting over a 72-hour period during a weekend, or treating Election Day as a public holiday for both the public and private sector. Technology must be fully exploited in the realm elections; when it comes to voting, I’m looking forward to the day when we can say “we have an app for that.” And, of course, all of these ideas must be complemented by a true return of civics to the classroom, starting at an early age.

All good ideas.

But he misses the fact that 2,890,355 registered active voters can not vote in the closed New York Primary because they are not members of the two major parties. Some belong to minor parties or no party and are called "BLANKS" for reporting purposes.

They pay taxes but can not take part in the candidate selection process, called a closed primary, that they pay for. Isn't that "Taxation without Representation"? Are they second class citizens? They only get to vote once but major party members vote twice. And major parties call themselves private entities, so why are we paying for their primary? And they can not vote for candidates across party lines, but only who the party selects.

My answer is a single primary ballot, for all voters, with a form of Top, you pick a number, candidates moving to the General Election. Then using Rank Choice Voting, the candidate with 50% plus one wins.

This is one option, what would your version look like?

Finally, to answer the major parties "Right of Association", they should use a separate ballot for their members when selecting party executives.