What We Can Do To Address New York’s Voter Turnout Crisis

Is voting something to shoehorn into a busy schedule, or something to spotlight? 

When I heard that 85 percent of registered voters in Scotland, a country of 5.3 million people with an electorate of 4.3 million, turned out to vote in last week’s referendum on independence, I was astonished. When is the last time any of us heard of such a high level of engagement in this city, state or country? In fact, by comparison voter turnout in our state’s recent primary election has been, to say the least, quite dispiriting: in a state of 19.5 million residents and 5.8 million registered voters, less than 10 percent of that 5.8 million showed up to the polls on Sept. 9.

This is a serious matter. Voting is a direct reflection of the success of our democracy, how well our citizens are engaged in the society around them. For all the challenges we face as New Yorkers, our most fundamental way of addressing them is at the ballot box. When less than 10 percent of our registered voter pool, which itself is quite small, is raising its voice, we are collectively failing.

As you may know, today is National Voter Registration Day, and in addition to using this day for signing up new voters, we should consider this day as an opportunity to begin the conversation about revamping and modernizing local voting laws. What can be done to increase turnout and promote the importance of voting in an election for New Yorkers?

With such a crisis in civic engagement, every idea needs to be on the table. Every barrier to voting must be scrutinized. Consider, for example, the difficulties of registering to vote and the inconveniences of voting at the polling station.

In New York State, Election Day occurs on a Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., a timeframe that poses challenges to many working voters, especially those with families. There is the option to register as an absentee voter and mail in your ballot ahead of Election Day, removing that barrier of having to allocate time to show up at the local polling station. Unfortunately, New York State utilizes byzantine rules to qualify for voting absentee; according to the New York State Board of Elections, you can qualify only if you are not presently in the city or county that you normally vote in during Election Day or are physically unable to show up to your local voting precinct.

Compare this approach to a state like California, where there are no special qualifications to become an absentee voter and you can register as a “permanent vote-by-mail-voter.” This policy engages college students to participate in the public sphere as well as saves time for working voters, leading to opportunities for increased turnout. Not coincidentally, California has recorded higher voter turnout rates than New York, such as in the 2012 general election.

Additionally, eight states—including Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia—have a same-day voter registration policy, and several more will be joining these ranks over the next two years. Would it surprise you to learn that, based on turnout figures from that same 2012 general elections, all of these states had greater participation than New York? 

On top of adopting the policies mentioned from other states, we can alter the public calendar of what days an election for state and local offices fall on. We could change our election days to a different day of week; consider that a large number of democracies, such as Japan, France and Argentina, hold their voting on Sundays. Another idea could be increasing the voting period from 15 hours on a Tuesday to voting over a 72-hour period during a weekend, or treating Election Day as a public holiday for both the public and private sector. Technology must be fully exploited in the realm elections; when it comes to voting, I’m looking forward to the day when we can say “we have an app for that.” And, of course, all of these ideas must be complemented by a true return of civics to the classroom, starting at an early age. 

Democracy comes from the Greek word demos, for “the people.” It does not mean less ten percent of the people, but all of the people. Our government, on all levels, is not functioning as it should, and it is because it does not reflect the people. We need to bring demos back to our democracy.

Eric Adams is the borough president of Brooklyn.