Denounces Murphy Over Proposed Voter Suppression Legislation; Calls for Early Voting & Automatic Voter Registration
With an upcoming October 12 midterm election voter registration deadline approaching this Friday, Pete Harckham, Democratic candidate for the 40th New York State Senate District, is calling for early voting and automatic voter registration in New York State, while objecting to a bill sponsored by incumbent Republican State Senator Terrence Murphy which could suppress voter turnout.
Friday, October 12 is the deadline to register to vote in the November 6 midterm elections. Harckham, who actively supported voting rights while serving as Westchester County Legislature Majority Leader, reminds citizens to register. Individual voter registration status can be quickly and easily checked via this online tool from RockTheVote. Additional information is available from the New York State Board of Elections at https://www.elections.ny.gov/. “Registering to vote is important for all citizens as we approach the midterm elections,” Harckham stated. “As Barack Obama said, “Democracy is not a spectator sport”.
“We need to enable voters, rather than create barriers to voting,” continued Harckham. “There is currently no early voting or automatic voter registration in New York State because of obstructionist efforts in the Republican-controlled NY State Senate. We need policies that will strengthen the state’s electoral system and make it easier for voters to participate, not Sen. Murphy’s S298 bill, which could lead to the kind voter suppression we left behind in the Jim Crow era”.
According to Harckham, calls for additional voting regulations can be traced back to Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud. Once the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity found no evidence to support this claim, Trump shut the commission down.
