Ed Day Upset With Proposed Voting Law Proposal

Rockland County Executive Ed Day released the following statement regarding NYS Senate Bill S6197-C/Assembly Bill A8560-C.

“I’m appalled that with only days left in this legislative session, New York’s state elected officials are, in what can only be described as a power grab, pushing for an unconstitutional violation of the voting rights, the right to responsive local government, and right to self-determination of every resident of this State outside of New York City.

“The New York State Constitution recognizes that effective local self-governments are important to the people of the State. Local governments are the most responsive, and responsible to the everyday person. They have a significant impact on everyday lives of the public, more than any other tier of government. Our hundreds of towns, villages, and counties, play a vital governance role for drinking water, social services, sewage, zoning, schools, roads, parks, police, courts, jails, trash disposal — and more. Without local government, public services would not be delivered, making home rule, a key constitutional principal.

“Despite this recognized and long-established right to local government, without any public desire or mandate to do so, State lawmakers are trying to silently push a bill through before adjourning next week that will force counties, towns, and villages to halve the number of general elections at which local official can be put up for election. This voting restriction violates our lawful right to local control over our local government, our “home rule” as the New York State Constitution describes it. In other words, the authority established in the New York State Constitution enabling local governments to exercise self-government. Of course, New York City is exempt from this State effort to wrest control from local governments, and it has no effect on Albany politics.

“If local elections for village, town, and county offices are forced to occur only in even years, as this bill wants to do, these local races will be overshadowed and buried by the important but unrelated issues raised in State and Federal elections. In the already crowded newsroom, there will be no room at all for local candidates to express their wishes and desires for office. There will be no time for voters to learn about the Federal, State, and local races, all in the same election season.

“The proposed bill aims to fix an issue that doesn’t exist and instead would be a catalyst of confusion caused by this unasked-for change. The law, as proposed, will force the terms of elected officials to be shortened by a year to fit into the State Legislature’s scheme. In addition to the loss of self-determination as to how we govern ourselves at the local level, voters’ expectations of when races will occur will not be met and, as anytime expectations are not met, there will be frustration and anger that our local officials will have to deal with. All these things will impede on the ability of voters to focus on the local races that matter even further.

“Let’s not forget the current Albany government, the Governor, and the State Senate and Assembly, are wholly dominated by New York City politicians, and have a terrible track record when it comes to rushing policy in New York, and not considering the needs of the suburban and rural areas outside New York City. One great example is the bail reform measures that even Governor Hochul has expressed the desire to roll back. State lawmakers, dominated by Assembly and Senate members from New York City approved the disastrous bail reform measures without consulting with law enforcement, district attorneys, courts, or anyone else directly involved and impacted by the changes in these processes and it led to disastrous and dire consequences that our criminal justice system is still coping with.

“The New York State legislature in Albany is again, engaging in political overreach, trying to rush a bill through covertly, on Memorial Day weekend, no less. It’s maddening that state lawmakers are trying to expeditiously pass this unconstitutional election bill Memorial Day weekend, which commemorates and honors the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the rights our New York State politicians are now quietly trying to seize.

“This is another example of New York State, which is controlled by New York City and Albany focused politicians, dictating, and engineering the election procedures to wrest power away from suburban and rural voters and put it in the hands of City and State politicians. This is made clear by the fact that it is only targeting elections outside of New York City. To not involve the hardworking taxpayers in this state, including the residents of Rockland, in a significant decision that will without question impact local elections statewide is outrageous and a stark continuation of the previous disgraced, authoritarian style government we saw under the prior administration.

“Now, they are seeking to fundamentally change local elections with no apparent reason, and no known purpose for the change. They think that they know the best for you, but they don’t talk to you, they don’t care about your local facts, your opinions, or your wisdom of what your locality looks like. You are not their constituent, the residents of New York City are, they legislate for the people who elect them, not for you, a resident of Rockland.

“On behalf of the people of Rockland, I demand our state elected officials be transparent about their intentions and refrain from a move that would be a clear attack on local elections in New York. I urge all concerned residents to contact their State Senators and Assemblymembers to demand they put an end to this assault on local election.”