Skoufis Bill to Strengthen Election Integrity Passes

Senator James Skoufis (D-Orange County) and Assemblymember Al Taylor (D-Manhattan) announced their legislation (S.1356A/A3649B) directing New York State to join a multi-state voter list maintenance organization—ERIC—has passed both houses of the Legislature. They join supporters and advocates of this bill in lauding this significant step toward increased election integrity. All that remains is the signature of the Governor before the legislation becomes law.

As the official record of all eligible voters, a state’s voter registration rolls are the foundation of free, fair, and accurate elections. Every day, many voters move and fail to change their registration, or pass away and family members forget to inform Board of Election officials. This makes keeping voter rolls up to date a challenge. While illegal voting remains rare, maintaining accurate voter rolls reduces the opportunity for improper behavior and, importantly, helps build confidence in election outcomes. ERIC securely cross-references state voter rolls, the Social Security death index, DMV records, and United States Postal Service mail forwarding to ensure its member states have the most accurate, up-to-date voter rolls possible.

“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, and public trust in those elections is essential,” said Senator Skoufis. “This legislation will direct New York State to join 25 other states—both Democratic-led and Republican-led—in a robust and safe data maintenance program. I am proud of the fight we fought for this, and even prouder to see it cross the finish line. New York should be a model of free, fair, accessible, and trusted elections, and this legislation gets us closer to that ideal.”

“As someone who believes deeply in protecting the democratic process, I introduced this bill to make sure New York is doing its part to keep our voter records accurate and up to date,” said Assemblymember Taylor. “This legislation is about smart, secure data sharing that helps our election systems run more smoothly and fairly. It’s a common-sense step forward that puts integrity and trust at the center of how we serve voters. I’m grateful to my colleagues for helping move it through the Legislature, and I urge the Governor to sign it into law.”

“ERIC is grateful to Senator Skoufis and Assemblymember Taylor for their leadership on this important election integrity bill,” said Shane Hamlin, Executive Director of ERIC.

“Joining ERIC will improve the accuracy of New York’s voter rolls in a secure manner, and cleaner voter rolls help the entire elections process run more smoothly. On behalf of the 26 members of ERIC, including all of New York’s neighboring states, I hope the Governor signs the bill into law.”

“Keeping a reliable voter roll is essential to New York’s ability to safely and securely run our elections. But without any central system for sharing information between states, voter rolls are incredibly difficult and expensive to maintain,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.