Letter To The Editor: Murphy's Voter ID Bill Designed To Suppress

To the Editor:

While a high rate of voter participation is an indicator of a strong democracy, New York is repeatedly among the lowest 20% of states in voting percentage. This result is substantially explained by New York’s antiquated voting laws. Pete Harckham, the Democrat running against Murphy, supports early voting and automatic registration which would greatly improve the situation.

In contrast, Murphy sponsored voter ID legislation designed to reduce voting. While Murphy claims that requiring voter IDs would reduce voter fraud, numerous court cases have concluded that virtually no such fraud has been shown to exist, and Murphy cites no proof. Notably, a federal appeals court concluded that a package of voter ID, reduction of early voting, and related laws disenfranchising voters “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.” There is no place for such a voter ID requirement in New York.

New York is one of only thirteen states without early voting. The Democratic-controlled Assembly passed early voting legislation (A.9608-B), which would expand voting rates, but the Republican-controlled Senate failed to act. If the Senate remains Republican, the Majority Leader, who will serve for all of 2019 and 2020, will almost certainly prevent early voting legislation from reaching the Senate floor.

Automatic voter registration would register anyone who has contact with specified government agencies. The result would be to increase registration and thereby voting, create accurate voting lists, and update address changes, an effective, non-discriminatory way of establishing accurate voting lists. Twenty five Democratic Senators sponsored or co-sponsored an automatic registration bill (S3304A), but again the Republicans failed to permit a Senate vote.

Murphy’s biased vote suppressing agenda should have no place in New York. Vote for Pete Harckham to increase voting participation and improve democracy in New York.

Jonathan Kratter

Cortlandt Manor