On February 2, 2016, the New York Democratic majority Assembly passed AB 9108. The bill combines the June Primary for Congress with the State and Local Primaries. The vote was 123-18. Currently the State and Local Primary is in September.
Following the Assembly's move to merge Primaries in the Spring, the Republican majority Senate Elections Committee will take up legislation by Senator Frederick J. Akshar (R-Binghampton), SB 6604, today to consolidate primaries in August, which fits with what Senate Republicans have supported in recent years. The bill that passed the Assembly is carried in the Senate by Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
The Assembly and the Senate both agree on the real consequences of two different primary dates for taxpayers. The extra cost of holding June and September elections is estimated to be $25 million.
The June date for a Congressional Primary was set be a judge to conform with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act). The Act provides greater protections for service members, their families and other overseas citizens. Among other provisions, the MOVE Act requires states to transmit validly-requested absentee ballots to these voters no later than 45 days before a Federal election, when the request has been received by that date, except where the state has been granted an undue hardship waiver approved by the Department of Defense for that election.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
1 comment:
The terrible thing about the Assembly bill is that it moves the petition deadline for independent candidates from late August to early June. If the Assembly bill passes, this will give New York the 2nd earliest independent petition deadline in the nation. Courts in Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, and South Dakota have ruled June petition deadlines to be unconstitutionally early. And the New York state press won't mention this feature of the bill. There is no reason to move the independent candidate petition deadlins, just because the state is changing the date of its primaries.
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