Learning Session: Can New York Finally Deliver Voting By Mail?
Tuesday, December 5th, 2023
Speakers
Susan Lerner, executive director, Common Cause/New York
Andrew Garber, counsel, Voting Rights and Elections Program, Brennan Center
Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director, POWER, Pennsylvania
Moderated by Patricia A. Swann, senior program advisor at the New York Community Trust and GoVoteNYC co-chair
Attempts to allow New Yorkers to join millions of other Americans in being able to cast their ballots by mail have been episodic and confused. The ability to vote by mail was expanded during COVID through executive order and a temporary state law, but that provision expired. A 2021 referendum question to amend the state constitution to create no-excuse absentee voting, failed. Then in the final days of the 2023 session, the State Legislature passed The New York Early Mail Voter Act. Governor Hochul signed the bill into law in September and a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality was immediately filed.
This session will update you on the latest developments in this fast-moving dynamic and ask whether New York can finally get it right and deliver voting by mail.
You will also hear about the experience of voting by mail in other states and what New York can learn from them. Pennsylvania recently implemented a similar law to New York to make it easier for voters to request a mail ballot. But other states, particularly in the west, do not require voters to ask for a mail ballot. Instead they have universal vote by mail where all eligible voters receive either a ballot or ballot application by default.
How much difference to voter turnout in New York might these various approaches make?
GoVoteNYC is committed to a welcoming, accessible experience. If you need accommodations or accessibility to join and participate in this event please specify your request in an email to info@govotenyc.org
Learning Session: New York City Hall Civic Engagement Team
October 4th 2023
High levels of civic trust and civic engagement are key to a thriving democracy. In December 2022 Mayor Adams announced an Office of Engagement to prioritize community engagement for his administration and to increase and improve citywide engagement efforts. Chicago is the only other major US city with such an office. Can such a focus within city government increase civic trust and democratic participation in NYC and, if so, how?
The Office of Engagement, led by Betsy MacLean, former executive director of Hester Street oversees the Community Affairs Unit, Public Engagement Unit, NYC Service, and the Civic Engagement Commission and coordinates outreach and engagement across all city agencies. Their efforts to transform the culture of engagement in the city include building on NYC Speaks, increasing cross-agency coordination and collaboration, proactive voter engagement and activation through DemocracyNYC, and “The People’s Money,” which is New York City’s first-ever citywide participatory budgeting process, open to anyone 11 and up, regardless of immigration or incarceration status.
This webinar provides an opportunity to hear from the City Hall “democracy team” and learn more about how they are approaching increasing civic trust and engagement: the challenges and the opportunities.
Speakers
Betsy MacLean, Chief Engagement Officer, City of New York
Kathleen Daniel, Chief Democracy Officer, City of New York
Dr. Sarah Sayeed, Chair & Executive Director, Civic Engagement Commission, City of New York
The conversation is moderated by GoVoteNYC co-chair Martha King of the Revson Foundation.
Learning Session: Waking the Sleeping Giant of Electoral Politics - A Webinar Hosted by GoVoteNYC and Philanthropy New York
Now outnumbering Baby Boomers, Millennials are the largest American adult cohort, and Gen Z-ers make up ten percent of the electorate. As millions more Gen Z-ers reach voting age over the next decade, their political clout is growing. In the 2022 midterm elections, voters aged 18-29 turned out at a rate of 27% across the country, the second-highest rate in 30 years. But New York continues to be among the states with the lowest rates nationally.
Speakers
· Sanda Balaban, Co-Founder and Director, YVote/Next Gen
· Brianna Cea, Executive Director and Founder, Generation Vote
· DeNora Getachew, CEO, Do Something
· Rachel Gita Karp, Program Director, Unstoppable Voters, Center for Artistic Activism
· Abby Kiesa, Deputy Director, Tuft University’s CIRCLE
· Fanta Ballo (moderator), Poet, Artist, and Activist
Learning Session: 2022 Impact Report
March 28, 2023
Melody Lopez from New York Civic Engagement Table presents an overview of the impact of GoVoteNYC grantees in the 2022 elections.
Learning Session: Open Primaries
December 1, 2023
Session exploring open vs closed primaries as a structural reform.
Speakers:
JOHN OPDYCKE, President of OpenPrimaries.org
BEN MAX, Executive Editor, at Gotham Gazette
MARCO CARRION, Executive Director of El Puente
SUSAN LERNER, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY
Learning Session: Exploring Aligned Elections
Thursday, November 10 2022
New Yorkers vote for mayor and local offices in odd-numbered years. They vote for president, governor, and congress in even-numbered years. They are asked to vote so frequently – oftentimes, every year – it is no wonder millions of New Yorkers skip important elections. For decades, an average of only 25% of New York City’s 5,000,000 eligible voters participate in municipal elections.
Should New York align local elections with high-turnout, high-profile federal elections?
Speakers
Zoltan Hajnal, professor of political science at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California San Diego, author “Dangerously Divided” and “America’s Uneven Democracy.”
Ben Weinberg, Director of Public Policy, Citizens Union Foundation
Daniel Kaminsky, Public Policy Manager, Citizens Union Foundation
Learning Session: The Future of Voter Engagement
Relational Organizing, Voter Festivals, and Digital Platforms in the Post-Pandemic Era
Friday, July 30, 2021
Nearly 1,000,000 New Yorkers voted on June 22 2021 – the largest number since 1989 and cause for celebration – but at only 26% of the electorate there is still much work to be done. The GoVoteNYC Fund is committed to deepening its support for nonprofits working to increase voter turnout, narrow participation gaps, and engage communities facing historical and present-day barriers.
Join us as we talk with experts about the research behind effective voter education and outreach, the rise of digital platforms and social media, and how measuring this work can build local capacity and the field. We take a special look at the innovative “voter festival” model tried in other cities and investigate how New York City’s vibrant arts sector can be engaged in creating a just and joyful voting experience.
Speakers
Donald Green is the Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and the co-author of Get Out The Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout. His research interests span a wide array of topics, including voting behavior, partisanship, and campaign finance. Much of his current work uses field experimentation to study the ways in which political campaigns mobilize and persuade voters.
Tamer Mokhtar is a partner at Investing in US which utilizes a venture capital model to identify organizations capable of bringing about scaled impact in the areas of technology integration into voter mobilization efforts, digital media/messaging, and turnout. In 2018, Tamer founded All Americans Vote, which focuses on non-partisan efforts to engage America’s electorate by elevating turnout among young and diverse voters.
Alex Navarro-McKay is Managing Director in the New York office of BerlinRosen, a nationally recognized communications strategy firm. He directs the firm’s political division where he creates award-winning ads and direct mail that tell the stories of candidates, causes and brands. Since joining the firm in 2008, Alex has been a lead consultant for over 100 winning campaigns, including state, federal, local and ballot initiatives.
Learning Session: Electoral System Reform
Fixing Our Electoral System Once and For All And Why it Matters to Donors Working to Strengthen Democracy Everywhere
Friday, July 23, 2021
“The New York City Board of Election Wins at Screwing Up”
“Fix the NYC Board of Elections or face endless mayhem”
“NYC Elections Board Is a Disaster. This is the Last Straw.”
Despite the flood of media attention following the June 29th 2021 counting error at the City Board of Elections, this dysfunction is not news. With each new debacle, the calls to overhaul the Board of Elections reach a fever pitch. In 2019:
“Amid Another Poorly-Run Election, Top New York Officials Point Fingers, Offer Plans, or Say Nothing”
With more than a dozen legislative “wins” since 2019, New York’s electoral system is significantly better, but persistent problems threaten to undermine all that. It is time to reform New York’s system once and for all. It is time to give New Yorkers the fair, trust-worthy and barrier-free voter experience they deserve.
Join the GoVoteNYC Fund to learn more about the scope of this recurring problem, what can be done about it, and why it matters to healthy democracy everywhere.
Chisun Lee and Joanna Zdanys, senior attorneys at the Brennan Center for Justice, share insights into policy and legal strategies for reform, and report on the momentum of the state-level “wins” orchestrated by the 200-member Let NY Vote Coalition. Professor Ekow Yankah will contextualize that work on the ground and its significance well beyond New York:
Speakers
Ekow Yankah is Professor of Law at Cardozo Law with expertise in voting rights and election law. He serves as co-chair of the New York Democratic Lawyers Council, the voting rights arm of the New York Democratic party. In 2020 he was appointed to New York State’s Public Campaign Finance Board, which he now serves as Chairman.
Chisun Lee is Deputy Director of the Brennan Center’s Election Reform Program, where she works to advance money-in-politics reform and improve election administration.
Joanna Zdanys serves as counsel in the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. Her work focuses on advancing reforms in the area of money in politics. Zdanys provides policy advice to lawmakers across the country and has testified before state and local legislators.