Only with an engaged public can we hold our political leaders accountable and fully leverage our city as a platform to drive global change. Yet voter participation and registration and citizen engagement in democratic processes are low, and vary by place. As a result, when the City seeks public input and facilitates community decisionmaking processes, the information it receives does not fully
represent all residents equally across communities and agencies.
While many organizations provide opportunities to get involved through volunteerism or community activism, these efforts do not reach everyone. Both the City and State can do more to strengthen our democracy and give all New Yorkers a voice.
The right to choose our government is fundamental to our democracy. Despite recent reforms, New York State’s archaic election laws have made it too difficult for many New Yorkers to exercise their right to vote, and too easy for well-funded special interests to influence the outcomes of elections. In early 2019, after years of advocacy by New York City, the State Legislature passed meaningful reforms to cap corporate contributions, introduce early voting, enable online registration, and allow 16- and 17-yearolds to preregister to vote, among other measures. Lawmakers also began the process to allow same-day voter registration and noexcuse absentee voting — two policies the City will actively support
when they come up for vote in 2020.
But we cannot stop there. To increase voter participation, the State must enact automatic voter registration and restore voting rights for citizens on parole. In parallel, the City must increase voter
registration among underrepresented groups. For example, the Young people are least likely to turn out to vote, especially in nonpresidential years.
