The Indivisible Project and Fair Elections NY held a series of rallies at U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s eight New York regional offices on Monday, urging the senate majority leader to use every tool at his disposal to pass democracy reform. With 50 Democrats voting in support of moving the “For The People Act” forward, the activists say attention is now focused on whether the senate majority leader Schumer can get the legislation passed.

 

According to its website, Indivisible is a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild the country’s democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda. Meanwhile, Fair Elections NY works “to ensure that every eligible citizen has the freedom to vote and that their votes are accurately counted.”

As reported previously by Norwood News, the NAACP works to improve voter turnout across New York City as well as in The Bronx, where voter education, they say, could be better, and laws that make it easier rather than harder to vote will go some way towards making this happen.

 

The “For The People Act” is a federal law that aims to do just that by expanding voting rights, changing campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, limit partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.

 

Shannon Stagman from Indivisible One NYS said that for years, her group and other activists in New York and across the country have worked tirelessly to make progress for the American people. “Now it’s time for Sen. Schumer and his colleagues to show their commitment to preserving the progress we’ve built,” she said. “Sen. Schumer and Senate Democrats must use their majority to pass the For the People Act NOW — no more excuses or letting the minority obstruct democracy with the filibuster.”

 

Meanwhille, Dave Palmer, Campaign Director for the Fair Elections NY coalition: “Our groups are here to make clear how important we think passage of this bill is. The ball is firmly in Senate Majority Leader Schumer’s court. He needs to keep his coalition united and make sure the Senate minority can’t kill this popular legislation with the filibuster, a legislative maneuver used time and again to block civil rights legislation.”

 

As reported, in carrying out research ahead of the March 23, 2021 special elections in the Bronx, the NAACP found that voter turnout accounted for 7.8 percent, 4.2 percent, and 7.5 percent of registered voters in Districts 11, 15 and 12, respectively. The group said this was based on a snapshot of voter registration figures taken on a particular day. The numbers may have varied since then.

Today we joined a number of Long Island organizations at a rally outside @SenSchumer's Melville office to demand he fight to pass the #ForThePeopleAct, which is being blocked in the U.S. Senate. #EndTheFilibuster and get it done! pic.twitter.com/hWYOsIf0WE

— Long Island Progressive Coalition (@LIProgress) June 28, 2021

 

As also previously reported, according to the BOE, as of Feb. 21, 2021, there are 872,925 registered voters in The Bronx among its roughly 1.435 million residents, based on 2019 census estimates, meaning 60.83 percent of the borough’s residents were, at least, registered to vote as of that date.

 

The borough’s median age is the city’s youngest at 34. This compares with a median age of 37 in Manhattan, 39 in Queens, 35 in Brooklyn and 40 on Staten Island. Many Bronx residents may not yet be of voting age. This may change over time, increasing the borough’s percentage of registered voters.

 

Meanwhile, as also reported, while standing in a long line of voters in The Bronx ahead of last year’s presidential election, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, “In the United States of America, where a two, three, four-hour wait is acceptable, just because it’s happening in a blue state doesn’t mean that it’s not voter suppression.”

 

The congresswoman said if such long wait times were evident in swing states, it would get national media coverage. “So, I don’t want us to think that just because it’s a blue state, that it isn’t a problem,” she said. “There’s a lot that needs to be done, but at the same time, I’m thrilled to see how many, who are overcoming this injustice, [are] waiting in lines anyway, bringing communities supplies, snacks [and] lawn chairs.”

 

As also reported, District 11 Councilman Eric Dinowitz had recently called for voting access to be expanded to any poll site in Bronx county, following a recent Kingsbridge incident where a usual poll site had changed.

 

Kingsbridge residents previously voted at In-Tech Academy but were moved to the Bronx High School of Science, a location a good distance away from their homes. The BOE since updated its system to allow Kingsbridge voters to also vote at In-Tech, albeit in a separate room at the In-Tech location.

 

In January, Dinowitz had also called for what he described as “critical reforms” to the voting process ahead of the special and primary elections earlier this year, including:

• reinstating the online system for absentee ballots to, again, allow people to request and track their absentee ballots online;
• committing to a significant public education campaign to ensure voters know about upcoming special elections and primaries, and how to vote in the new Ranked Choice Voting system;
• dedicating [voting] days for seniors, and people who are immunocompromised, during the early voting period;
• increasing early voting hours and the number of early voting sites, and allow New Yorkers to vote at any voting site in their county;
• mailing an absentee ballot application to all eligible voters with return postage included;
• posting real-time wait times online for early voting sites (which he wrote was a measure taken in states like Georgia);
• allowing New Yorkers to immediately apply for absentee ballots for 2021 elections;
• allocating additional funds to hire more unionized staff;
• putting drop boxes in public locations, like libraries and post offices, in addition to continuing to allow ballots to be dropped off at election-day poll sites and
• providing a clear indication that voters who wish to vote absentee due to COVID, can do so by selecting “temporary illness” or another separate option.

 

Meanwhile, last October, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and other colleagues had called to abolish the cost to voters to mail-in absentee ballots, among other proposals.

 

Speaking in Rochester earlier today, Graham Hughes of the Rochester branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, said, “In a city of 205K, 12% voting age showed up to vote – thanks to this racist system. Tired of elected buying votes and power. Our votes matter!”

We can’t sit idly by while democracy is in peril – here, in America. We need to protect the sacred right to vote and ensure “We the People” choose our leaders, the very foundation on which our democracy rests. We urgently need the For The People Act.

Send it to my desk.

— President Biden (@POTUS) June 22, 2021

 

According to its supporters, the For the People Act, if passed intact, “would substantially strengthen democracy in the country by protecting the freedom to vote, particularly for Black and brown people who are, and always have been, the primary targets of deliberate barriers to vote.”

They say the legislation would also limit the influence of corporations and wealthy donors in electoral politics and amplify the voices of everyday people through a public financing system and an independent, bi-partisan redistricting process.

 

Monday’s statewide rallies were part of a national campaign called Deadline for Democracy by the Indivisible Project and 70 coalition partners.