Assemblymember Robert Carroll (D-Windsor Terrace) announced that the Assembly passed a series of bills to modernize the state’s election process and make voting easier for more New Yorkers, including measures to allow online voter registration and voting by mail.

"New York has some of the worst voter participation rates in the nation, and that’s because we have some of the worst voting laws in the nation.” said Assemblymember Carroll. “This legislative package is a step in the right direction to make it easier to register and to vote in New York State.”

The package includes Assemblymember Carroll’s legislation to extend New York City’s run-off election by one week to allow sufficient time to canvas, audit and test optical scanning machines following a primary election (A.7745). These machines have significantly modernized the way elections are administered. The legislation also adjusts several calendar deadlines and allows additional time for receipt of military ballots.

“This is really important so there’s consistency for voters in New York City, and so that we have a voting process that, well before the September primary this year, we know how we’ll administer and when we would administer the run-off if it was necessary for any of the offices,” Assemblymember Carroll said.

(A.7745) passed the Assembly today, making it the first piece of legislation of which Assemblymember Carroll was the prime sponsor to be passed by the house.

In addition to Assemblymember Carroll’s bill, the package includes another eight bills designed to modernize New York’s election process. Bill in the package include, a bill to consolidate New York’s federal and state primaries to one day in June, a bill to establish early voting in New York, a constitutional amendment to allow any citizen to receive an absentee ballot upon request, two bills to modernize voter registration, and a bill to allow voters who are 17 to vote in presidential primary elections if they will be 18 years of age at the time of the general election.

“As the sponsor of the ‘Young Voter Act,’ (A.6839), a bill that would lower the voting age to 17 for state and local elections, I am proud to support legislation that would expand the franchise, said Assemblymember Carroll, “If a person starts voting before they turn 25 years old they are much more likely to be an active voter for their entire life than someone who starts voting later in life. Government should be fostering citizenship among young people – I think the more people involved the better and more representative our government will be.