Celebrating Democracy Amid A Registration Crisis: NYC Votes to Lead National Voter Registration Day in New York

07/22/2020

On Tuesday, September 22, people all across the country will join in celebration of their right to vote while helping friends and neighbors get ready for the presidential election as part of National Voter Registration Day. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and a steep decline in new voter registrations here in New York, National Voter Registration Day will be even more important in 2020 than ever.

For the second year in a row, NYC Votes was selected as a State Captain for National Voter Registration Day, serving as the leading organization on all the events hosted in New York. NYC Votes and partnering organizations have registers thousands of voters each year at National Voter Registration Day events.

In this critical presidential election year, we must make sure that every new eligible voter can exercise their rights in November," said Sabrina Castillo, Director of Partnerhsips and Outreach at the CFB. "With Covid-19 disrupting traditional registration methods, NYC Votes will help our partners develop safe, secure, and accessible ways to reach and engage with voters."

As State Captain, NYC Votes will provide additional and state-specific support to organizations new to voter registration, ensuring their success on National Voter Registration Day and beyond. NYC Votes will organize trainings, develop resources, and lead the charge in New York to help voter registration efforts succeed despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, National Voter Registration Day will be supporting State Captains in Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Oregon.

Right now, NYC Votes is looking for organizations across the city and state to partner with them on hosting virtual and in-person registration events in accordance with CDC guidelines. Follow this link to sign up as a National Voter Registration Day partner organization with NYC Votes by Friday, August 14, at the latest.

Held every fourth Tuesday of September, National Voter Registration Day is the country's largest single-day effort to get eligible voters registered and ready to vote on or before election day. Nearly 3 million voters have registered on this civic holiday since it was first celebrated in 2012. Each year it involves thousands of partners across the country, including election officials, nonprofits, libraries, businesses, co-ops, and more.

This year, National Voter Registration Day is uniquely important. Not only is it a presidential election year, but New York City and the country as a whole face an unforeseen voter registration crisis.

Presidential election years are typically when election administrators process the largest number of newly registered voters. While voter registrations and turnout rates were predicted to hit record highs in 2020, new voter registrations have plummeted since the shutdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

For instance, new analysis of New York's voter rolls shows a sharp decline in voter registrations in 2020 compared to 2016, according to the NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB). The voter registration analysis was released at a public hearing of the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee of the Campaign Finance Board on July 1.

New voter registrations in New York City are down by 49 percent in 2020 compared to 2016. From January to June of 2020, 79,777 New Yorkers submitted new registrations. During the previous presidential election cycle in 2016, city voters submitted 155,215 new registrations by June. Voter registrations also declined by more than 20 percent in the rest of New York state.

The data reflects a growing trend around the country suggesting that this voter registration decline is a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has made it more difficult to host voter registration drives. New York is particularly impacted because it lacks an online voter registration system that's accessible to all eligible voters.

New York City's youngest voters are the most impacted by this impasse. There are 90,730 city residents turning 18 in 2020. More than 500,000 people living in NYC between the ages of 18 and 29 are eligible to vote but remain unregistered.

More than 700,000 NYC residents do not have a NYS driver’s license or DMV-ID that would allow them to access the existing voter registration application on the DMV’s website, according to CFB analysis of DMV statistics.

An online voter registration platform was developed by the CFB and ready to go live in June 2019, in accordance with city law. The CFB has offered to work with the state Board of Elections to refine or expand the application for statewide use.

NYC Votes is the nonpartisan voter engagement initiative of the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) and its Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC). In addition to promoting voter registration, participation, and civic engagement in New York City through its many programs and partnerships, NYC Votes sponsors the city’s official Debate Program and produces the citywide Voter Guide.