ALBANY, NY – What Democrats say about creating fair and equitable elections in New York and what Democrats do regarding those elections are growing increasingly further apart. While claiming recent changes in election laws are to improve turnout and democracy in the state, it is clear the motivation behind many of these policies is to suit their agenda. The only thing worse than blatantly political-driven policy is doing so under the guise of democracy.
The trend began several years ago when the Majority Conferences decided to ignore a bipartisan, voter-approved constitutional amendment passed in 2014 designed to guide the Independent Redistricting Commission’s work. Instead, they used their newfound majority in the Senate as an impetus to completely rewrite redistricting procedures, which ultimately allowed them to draw their own lines. What an incredible coincidence the merits of the amendment they helped negotiate and pass no longer met muster once the Legislature saw change in its composition.
Now, after New York Republican won Congressional seats in 2022, helping to flip control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats’ are ignoring the will of the people and established their own electoral lines. Just last week, the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ordered the state’s congressional maps to, again, be redrawn. An appeal of this decision is imminent, but it should never have been necessary in the first place.
Making matters worse, several other pieces of highly suspect legislation were recently passed including measures to expand absentee voting, move local elections to even-numbered years and dictate where constitutional challenges to election law can be heard. On the surface, these bills might sound benign. Of course, near-universal absentee ballots will greatly increase the risk of election fraud, changing the election cycle will undoubtedly drown local issues out at the expense of national ones and micromanaging court venues means cases will be heard in a select few venues that just so happen to have extremely high concentrations of Democrat representation.
These changes are too obvious to ignore. The Democrats’ defense of these moves has been, unsurprisingly, shrouded in political double-talk about democratic ideals. None of that is the case. These measures are a clear assault on fair elections. Ignoring the will of the people and concentrating decision-making into the hands of a select few in charge flies in direct opposition to the democratic principles guiding equitable elections. I am appalled at the audacity of these measures and will continue to fight passionately for representative elections in New York state.
If you have any questions or comments on this or any other state issue, or if you would like to be added to my mailing list or receive my newsletter, please contact my office. My office can be reached by mail at 19 Canalview Mall, Fulton, NY 13069 and by email at [email protected]. You may also find me, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, on Facebook or on Twitter at @WillABarclay.
