In the 2013 election, turnout on Election Day was historically low, despite a mayoral election and a swell of New York City Council races that year. That sentiment was viewed in the numbers during the mayoral election– roughly 19 percent of the Bronx voting age population came to the polls. More stunning, 8,000 ballots casted by Bronxites were tossed out since their ballot cards were filled out incorrectly, relinquishing the vote.

Invalid ballots are one of a litany of election problems that have long troubled good government groups such as the League of Women Voters (LWV). But now, the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB), an agency that normally tracks public monies awarded for city races, is adding its voice towards remedying the voter experience.

“Our election system is sorely out of date,” said Matthew Sollars, NYCCFB spokesman, declaring New York’s voter turnout record a “crisis.”

To fix that, the agency kicked off Vote Better NY. Launching a year before Election Day 2016, the campaign has introduced a petition drive that pushes three election reform initiatives. Its strength in signatures, the campaign hopes, will be used to lobby for legislative reform in Albany.

NYCCFB looks to use its petitions to convince Albany legislators to enact the Voter Empowerment Act, contributing to lobbying efforts long pushed by LWV and New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, which helped draft the bill’s language. The legislation would create an online voter registry similar to one found on the Department of Motor Vehicles website, though inclusive to even non-drivers over the age of 18.

With Election Day happening solely on a Tuesday, the campaign is lobbying the state to adopt the early voting method, which could give voters upwards of two weeks to cast a ballot. “Thirty-three other states in the country have some version of early voting,” said Sollars. “It’s very difficult for people to make it to the polls on one day, in the middle of the week that’s not a holiday, and cast a ballot.”

But even if voters make it to the polls, the act of voting has its flaws. The fault happens when paper ballots are improperly filled out and, through a variety of reasons, are missed by poll workers trained to walk voters through the process. A ballot incorrectly filled out can render it, and subsequently the vote, invalid.

Ballots were changed after the U.S. Congress passed the 2010 Help America Vote Act (HAVA), mandating states to replace old-fashioned lever machines with paper ballot scanners (U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, both representing New York, voted against the bill). New York State purchased new machines through federal grants, but failed to update its own state voter law to conform with the reforms. A bill to resolve that called the Voter Friendly Ballot Act, which would establish a more improved design ballot, has been floating around the state Assembly, though it’s gone nowhere. NYCCFB hopes its petition can bring that bill to a vote.

In spite of perfunctory support for higher voter engagement, Bronx elected officials, save for one, have not supported the bills to simplify the voting process. “They’re never going to say that they believe in suppressing voter turnout, but what they would say, what they believe is, they want their own voters to show up,” said Katherine Doran, an election specialist with the League of Women Voters. “They’re not going to help the voters of their opponent show up.”

For their part, (LWV) will launch its own get-out-the-vote campaign in 2016, in partnership with the City University of New York.

Editor’s Note: To learn how you can volunteer for the petition drive, email nycvotes@nyccfb.info. To learn more about the petition drive click here.