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Voting & Elections 11.9.2021

Voting reform in limbo after ballot measures go down in defeat

“I think we’re going to see a lot of angry voters next year when they find out that the ease of getting an absentee ballot has disappeared,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of the good-government group Common Cause New York.

Voting & Elections 10.3.2021

Advocates call it vote to make voting easier

The proposals address several areas that include making alterations to the redistricting process, giving state residents a right to environmental protections, and increasing the amount of money people can sue for in New York City civil courts. But it’s the third and fourth provisions — intended to make voting easier — that would most clearly accomplish the long-time goals of good government groups like Common Cause New York and the Let NY Vote coalition. “They are long-standing priorities of ours,” said Common Cause’s executive director Susan Lerner. “The two amendments help bring our elections up to a 21st century standard.”

Voting & Elections 06.9.2021

New York lawmakers to approve early counting of absentee ballots, expand early voting sites

Susan Lerner, executive director of New York Common Cause, said the bill will bring New York more in line with other states where ballots can be qualified to be counted in advance. “It makes a lot of sense,” Lerner said. “And is yet another step towards bringing our election administration fully into the 21st Century.”

Voting & Elections 02.23.2021

Voter advocates after NY-22 fiasco: Hire qualified people to run elections

“These are not exotic, difficult criteria,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, one of the groups that signed the letter. “These are real, bread-and butter, good management skills.”

Voting & Elections 02.7.2021

Battle Over Upstate Congressional Seat Shows New York’s Election Problems

Susan Lerner, executive director of the advocacy group Common Cause New York, said the state needed professionalized election administration staff who were hired based on their qualifications.

Voting & Elections 01.27.2021

NYC Board Of Elections Plans To Hand Count Ranked-Choice Voting Results After Impasse With State

“I think that the pandemic and miscommunication from the State BOE slowed down the process,” said Susan Lerner, head of Common Cause New York which advocated for the city’s ranked-choice voting referendum and has been leading voter education efforts across the city. “The major vendors were well aware of the opportunity. ES&S, the current vendor for the voting scanning machines, has been in contact with our BOE since December of 2019, discussing rank choice voting. So, if ES&S were interested, they certainly could have bid,” she said.

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