Read My Plan: Don’t Let Coronavirus Stop Democracy
Here’s my plan:
Our District is in crisis. We are at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our neighborhood’s streets are empty and stores are largely closed. As Governor Cuomo says, we’re all hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. But we cannot let the virus become an excuse for us to go against our shared values. This is why I am unveiling my plan, “Don’t Let Coronavirus Stop Democracy,” to demonstrate how we can continue to have strong civic participation during a crisis. Here are its tenets:
We need to move to no-excuse absentee voting so that everyone can participate in our elections.
When voting absentee, registered voters should be able to sign up online or via phone to have a ballot mailed to wherever they are.
The ballot postmark deadline should include Election Day, allowing the maximum number of people the maximum amount of time to cast their vote.
When the crisis is beginning to subside, we should use the unemployment rolls to proactively offer jobs as poll workers and census-takers.
If voting in-person is determined by health experts to be feasible, New York State should fund a strong public education campaign surrounding early voting to ensure that there is no overcrowding of poll sites.
The New York State Assembly should move to remote voting, and remain in session so that they can respond to this developing crisis in real-time.
All of our elected officials should give up their sources of outside income for the duration of this crisis, and pledge to serve us to the fullest extent of their abilities.
All petition and ballot challenges should be suspended so that candidates do not have to crowd at the BOE and our court system is reserved for only the most emergency issues.
We should pass legislation allowing community boards and other local entities to conduct meetings virtually while still preserving transparency and good government.