I often feel like people are using politics as a way to avoid personal responsibility and not address problems in their own lives and own communities. While I’m sure whoever occupies the White House or the State Capitol or City Hall has some minor bearing on your life, the truth is what you choose to do, the people you choose to associate with and the community you choose to live in has as much larger bearing on your life.
Do vote. It’s a low cost activity that doesn’t take much time. Early voting and absentee voting makes it even easier. In the autumn, spend a Saturday afternoon knocking doors and maybe a weeknight or two making calls. Attend public meetings and protests, be heard. It does make a difference to scream at and put pressure on the politicians, as few do.
But remember, the buck ultimately stops at you, and your life is only as good as you make it.
I think it’s good to have different views on local government.
Both Democrats and Republicans have good ideas, it’s better if they come together in one room and work hand in hand to develop policies that benefit all Americans rather than their narrow ideological slices.
The veto pen after all is one of the best protectors of minority rights!
Before the ink was dry on a series of 10 election reforms signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday, Republicans – including U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik – filed a lawsuit arguing that one of the reforms, which expands the use of mail-in balloting during the early voting period “reverses the will of the people."
That’s a reference to a 2021 ballot question expanding absentee voting that voters defeated by a margin of 55-45%.
But according to bill sponsor state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris , the bill in question, the so-called "Early Mail Voting Act," is distinct from the question on the ballot in 2021.
“We’re not expanding absentee voting. We’re allowing people to vote by mail during the early voting period,” Gianaris told Capital Tonight. “The Constitution is very clear that the Legislature gets to determine the methods of voting."
The absentee process deals with people who may be absent or unavailable to get to the polls on Election Day. The statute signed into law by Hochul relates to a method of early voting.
“What we’re saying is that, as a method of early voting, which we now have in this state, you can go show up at the polls on any of those given early days, or you can vote by mail if you choose to,” explained Gianaris.
The anticipated new law would allow all registered voters to request an early mail voting ballot from their local board of elections. It also requires the BOE to establish and maintain an online system where voters can apply for and track their early voting ballot applications, similar to the system already in place for voters to request an absentee ballot. Voters would then need to submit those early mail voting ballots before the polls close on Election Day.
The COVID-19 pandemic, so far, has had some lasting effects on how people cast ballots in the U.S.
According to a new report from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, mail voting rates in the U.S. "remained higher than pre-pandemic levels" during last year's midterm elections, when more than 35 million mail ballots were cast and counted.
It's been an open question as to whether the pandemic would have any long-term impact on how people vote in the U.S. Ahead of the 2020 election, many states opened up their vote by mail programs to more voters and officials also created more early voting options. And many voters took advantage of those options.
"Michigan's election for governor was upended last year when several Republicans were removed from the primary ballot for problems with their voter signatures.
The news highlighted instances of suspected fraud in the process, which experts say could be encouraged by higher rates signature-gathering companies are now charging for their services.
As a result, states such as Colorado and California are hoping to crack down on bad actors in the signature-gathering industry."
When you look at election-related crime in New York, petition signature forgery and residency issues usually are the common. Residency often plays in when candidates run in districts that are poor and urban, where the candidate says they live in a neighborhood when they actually have a nice home in the suburbs where they actually live. In both cases, the stakes are high, which can encourage cheating.
