NY Gov. Cuomo Proposes $7 Million to Pay for Early Voting

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is stepping up his push for early voting by putting up the money to get it started. The state is proposing $7 million in the upcoming budget so that every New York county can have at least one poll site open 12 days before an election.

Each county would be required to have one site for every 50,000 voters, up to a maximum of seven sites. In New York City, that means every borough would be subject to that requirement, with total of up to 35 sites citywide, according to state officials.

Budget director Robert Mujica made the announcement Monday at a presentation about 30-day budget amendments.

"The budget included a provision to provide for early voting. We'll make sure the funding is there for local governments to be able to pay for those additional costs," said Mujica.

Cuomo has called for early voting in previous years, but this is the first time his administration has included money in the proposed budget to pay for it. Susan Lerner praised the move. She's the head of Common Cause New York and part of the Let NY Vote coalition pushing for electoral reform.

"I think that this is a very significant step on the part of Gov. Cuomo," Lerner told WNYC. "It is exactly what our coalition has been asking him to do and now the job of all of us is to ensure that money stays in the budget."

State Sen. Brian Kavanagh, a Democrat who represents lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, has been a long-time proponent of electoral reform. He said the governor's budget proposal changes the conversation about early voting, because the main argument against early voting is that it is an unfunded mandate for local towns. He said that it's better to acknowledge that there are costs, and the state should bear them.

The governor's decision to include funding for early voting in his budget is a big step, Kavanagh noted, because of the way budget process works. 

"The assembly, the senate and the governor all need to agree," said Kavanagh, "and the governor's budget proposal does set the groundwork for the negotiations."

The state budget is due by April 1.