NYS should set one day for primaries, then make other election changes
A single day of primary voting in August would be best for state residents this year, and save at least $10 million. Credit: Howard Schnapp
It’s about the voters.
New York’s voters have a right to the redistricting process they chose for the state Constitution via referendum in 2014, and that state legislators twice affirmed.
New York’s voters have a right to the desired goals of that process: districts as fairly drawn and competitive as possible. That demands weighing how lines affect communities of interest. It also means refusing to favor incumbents of either party, or a party’s push for dominance in a chamber.
New York’s voters also have a right to ease of balloting, which is foundational to democracy. A single day of primary voting in August, rather than a two-date plan splitting state contests between June and August, would be best for state residents this year, and save at least $10 million.
New York's legislative leaders, Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and her deputy, Michael Gianaris, messed up badly with the electoral maps they produced. Gov. Kathy Hochul went along, quickly signing off on the flawed package. New York's top court admirably rejected the maps Wednesday and ordered a special master to divine new lines for the House of Representatives and the State Senate. But the Democrats who own this mess have a second chance to make the 2022 election reputable.
That’s what needs to happen.
The special master's new maps are expected to be approved by May 20. When the legislature returns to Albany next week, it should consolidate the primary dates sometime in late August, allowing the state to comply with a federal law to deliver timely absentee ballots for the military and others. The legislature should reopen the petition process in early June for all contests, including statewide offices such as governor as well as the Assembly, whose maps are vulnerable to further legal challenge because they were part of the faulty process.
What the legislature should not do is make a fix to state law that would allow Hochul to improve her election chances by shedding from the ticket former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, who resigned because of a federal indictment.
The constitutional amendment New Yorkers adopted in 2014 created the Independent Redistricting Commission, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and required it to draw up new election districts every decade based on the latest census data. It was premised on the idea that the two parties would compromise and draw up equitable maps. That didn't work.
Changing the flaws in the IRC is one of many problems that must be addressed in a comprehensive overhaul of our election laws, because the voters deserve that, too.
Right now: Fair districts. One primary. A clean and efficient petitioning process.
Next year: A thorough overhaul of the state’s barnacled and bespoke election code that favors insiders.
That’s the honest government voters deserve. And that’s all that matters.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
