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  • 2016-04-18 (xsd:date)
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  • Voter Suppression in New York? (en)
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  • New York's 2016 primary election was rife with rumors, due in part because New York's primaries are closed, and also because an early change-of-party deadline had already created a good deal of confusion in an already complicated system. One claim that emerged from the rumors warned Bernie Sanders voters not to wear shirts or hats with his name on them to polling places: It is true that New York State voting laws contain a provision concerning passive electioneering, and rumors about voter suppression due to such laws circulated in 2008 as well. However, there is no reason that enforcement of it would affect only those who were casting ballots for any particular candidate. At the same time, New York State's Board of Elections was inundated with calls from worried voters about being turned away on a technicality. In a 2008 article, spokesman Bob Brehm was one of several parties who spoke to the Huffington Post about rumors concerning that law: By law, no form of electioneering (passive or otherwise) can occur within 100 feet of a polling place: We contacted the Suffolk County Board of Elections to ask whether voters would be denied the right to participate in the state's primary if they wore a shirt supporting any particular candidate. They told us that in a worst-case scenario, the voter would be asked to turn the shirt inside out, but would still be able to vote without interruption otherwise. We asked about another rumor, specifically whether it was true that in some districts, polls would be opening at noon rather than 6 in the morning (which would prevent many from casting ballots before work). The Board of Elections worker said that the rumor was false for all of Long Island, and that all polling places in Nassau and Suffolk Counties were opening at 6am. It is true, however, that polling hours are shorter for primaries than general elections in some regions of the state: Despite rumors to the contrary, the shorter hours were not a new attempt at suppressing votes. This particular primary election clause has been in place in New York state for decades [PDF]: According to that law, the noon provision was in effect as early as 1976. A challenge to the law in 1982 was initially successful, but overturned on appeal. There were grains of truth to the rumors circulating among voters ahead of New York's primaries. Voters were not allowed to engage in passive electioneering via shirts, hats, or buttons within 100 feet of a polling place on election Day. However, no one would lose the right to vote, and the law was typically described as rarely enforced. A voter might be asked to turn their shirt inside out or leave a hat in the car, but would not be denied at the voting booth. Also, it was false that any counties had primary hours cut; the law dictating a shorter voting window throughout the state of New York was in effect before 1982, and had nothing to do with the 2016 primaries. (en)
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