State leaders propose early voting, easier registration

Eager to raise the state's low voter turnout, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman Tuesday proposed allowing New Yorkers to begin voting 15 days before a general election and eight days before primary or special elections.

Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo chimed in with this own plan: reducing the number of signatures that statewide candidates need to get on the ballot and allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister at schools and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Silver said 32 other states allow early voting. He noted that New York's turnout in the 2012 presidential election was 59.5 percent, one of the lowest in the nation that was made worse by superstorm Sandy.

"We believe all New Yorkers, regardless of their personal or professional time commitments, should be able to vote in each and every election," he said.

Early voting would not impose a "significant" cost on localities, which could use current poll workers, he said.

Just before the speaker and attorney general began their news conference, Cuomo submitted a bill to crackdown on election law violations by creating a chief enforcement counsel and an investigative unit at the State Board of Elections.

Since the idea was first floated, critics have questioned whether the Democratic governor would nominate a new elections law enforcer who would be sufficiently independent. The governor has said that, since his nominee would face State Senate confirmation, senators could reject a candidate who was deemed partisan.

Silver responded skeptically when asked about Cuomo selecting an election enforcer, saying: "So that makes it independent?"

Schneiderman noted Cuomo's refusal to let his office pursue election fraud -- without a specific referral -- meant there was one less enforcer. "I'm in favor of an all levers approach," he said. He added: "We are pursuing a lot of public integrity cases."

Cuomo also proposed abolishing the Wilson-Pakula Act, which requires crossover candidates to win the approval of the other party's leaders to run on their line. That requirement sparked what U.S. Attorney General Preet Bharara says was a plot by Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Jamaica) to bribe Republican county officials to allow him to run for mayor on their line.