With June primary elections right around the corner, there is a need to discuss voter reforms from past legislative cycles and current bills to push over the finish line by the end of this year's legislative session. Anticipated confusion among voters this cycle due to a host of legislative changes means it is imperative that this information get out to as many voters as possible.

Please join us at our next MVRC Virtual Monthly Meeting on May 17th at 6:30 pm with Assembly Election Law Chair Latrice Walker and State Senate Election Law Chair Zellnor Myrie. Assembly-member Walker and Senator Myrie will talk about the legislative changes that have been made and their legislative agendas for the future. 

NYDLC is excited to announce our April Steering Committee Meeting on Tuesday, April 26th, at 6:30 pm! 

Agenda: 

• Fundraising
• NYDLC Committee updates
• Update on New York's redistricting efforts
• A special report from Onondaga County Democratic Elections Commissioner, Dustin Czarny

Please register here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvc--qrz4oGtakPrhdCeRap1r-qVhMGMfB

We look forward to seeing you!

The New York Democratic Lawyers Council congratulates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson​ for her confirmation to serve as the first Black woman Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Her confirmation​ by a 53-47 vote, which included Senators from both parties, to the nation's highest judicial body is a beacon of hope and light as our country grapples with a racial reckoning that has deepened divisions in Americans' views of racial history and challenged our democratic institutions.​ ​

Beyond her unassailable credentials, as a graduate cum laude from Harvard Law School and already nine years in tenure on the federal bench, her unique experience as a public defender ​brings much-needed professional diversity ​and representation ​to the Supreme Court. We celebrate her historic confirmation and thank President Biden for his commitment to appointing the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. This joyous occasion reminds us of what is possible when we work together to elect leaders committed to advancing gender and race equity and diversity in government.

The New York Democratic Lawyers Council continues its work to foster universal participation and trust in the electoral process, increase the diversity of our membership and volunteer base, and ensure representation in efforts to protect voters. As the fight for voting rights continues in courtrooms across the country, we welcome​ Judge Jackson​'s commitment to ​fairness and her courage in upholding democratic institutions and the rule of law. ​Her grace, integrity, and unflappability​ - which she demonstrated​ ​throughout a racially charged, gender-insensitive, and unseemly confirmation process ​- will help restore ​eroded faith and confidence in ​the Supreme Court and inspire a generation to follow in her footsteps. 

We look forward to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson taking the bench this year. 

NYDLC is excited to announce our March Steering Committee will be Thursday March 31, 6:30 pm, and there will be important discussions about key legislative priorities and voter protection opportunities:

• 2022 Midterms / Voter Protection
• Fundraising Update
• Legislative Priorities and Updates
  • Update on key NYDLC priority legislation for 2022 aimed at (i) ensuring that NY has trustworthy voting machines; (ii) making sure that thousands of affidavit and absentee ballots of registered voters do not continue to be disqualified for technicalities; and (iii) making it easier for people to register and vote.
  • Recruitment of NYDLC members to meet virtually with their representatives to help advance the NYDLC legislative agenda.
  • Update on how to pass constitutional amendments for same day registration and no excuse absentee ballots, which failed at the ballot box in November 2021.
  • Legal research/writers needed for bill memos to support NYDLC's legislative agenda.
• CLEs and Preparing for Caucus Weekend 2022

Please register here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tf--trDIuHdAcxjnplthR9pnuwJmvY5Je

Interested in joining a fantastic team in an important year as NYDLC Treasurer? Email [email protected]!

Looking forward to seeing you!

NYDLC Community, 

We look forward to seeing you at our first Steering Committee meeting of the year on February 24th (register here).  

We have already seen Albany take action on key legislative proposals this Session and are optimistic more will pass by June.  In particular, the Governor signed into law legislation that extends through the end of this year (2022) the rights of all NY voters to vote by mail, due to risk of illness from Covid spread, following swift passage of the legislation by both houses.  

The State Senate has also moved on a number of bills, including the following longtime NYDLC priorities: 

• A bill to reduce the registration timeline to the 10 day constitutional minimum (here)

• A bill that requires the counting of affidavit ballots cast in a polling place other than the one to which the voter was assigned (“ballot saving”) (here, but due to a technical difference with the Assembly version, will have to be re-passed by the Senate) 

• A bill that establishes polling places on college campuses (here) 

These bills have yet to move in the Assembly.

Additionally, Governor Hochul included legislation in her budget proposal that would reduce the registration deadline to the constitutional minimum and designate polling places on college campuses.  The Senate has already passed both bills, so we are optimistic the Assembly will carry those forward in the budget negotiations.  

If you have not signed up to receive notices regarding NYDLC's events and activities, and you wish to receive notices, please complete the form at this link.  See you on February 24th!

NYDLC is excited to announce our first Steering Committee of the year, Thursday February 24, 2022, 6:30 pm, focusing on a launch of 2022 Initiatives:

• 2022 Midterms / Voter Protection
• Legislative Updates
• Redistricting Update
• CLEs on the Horizon
• Recruiting a new Treasurer

Please register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqceCsrTIoEtBgqfvRRQ2hiU6qI9RImjSV

Interested in joining a fantastic team in an important year as NYDLC Treasurer? Email [email protected]!

We will also have some big NYDLC news!

Looking forward to seeing you!

The NYDLC proudly commemorates International Woman’s Day. It is a vital reminder of the need to highlight the value, dignity and humanity of all girls and women.  

Find out how YOU can mobilize to protect voters in New York, as well as help volunteers in swing states to monitor polls in their communities!

NYDLC is proud to announce the launch of its statewide voter helpline!

(855) 895-2667

ALL voters can call NYDLC to get answers to their latest questions!

Yesterday, Congressman John Lewis passed away. Congressman Lewis was absolutely committed to the principle of one person, one vote; an advocate who long ago put his life on the line for justice and fundamental rights has now left us. 

For many in the NYDLC family, Congressman Lewis was the greatest leader for the Democratic movement for voting rights in our lifetimes. John Lewis, in word and deed, with blood and sweat, pushed America over a bridge to try to be a better nation. Congressman Lewis never stopped fighting.

It is a sad moment, bidding farewell to one of the brightest lights of the past sixty years.

His absence casts a pall on us; but also a call to fill what he leaves behind. 

We must offer more than words of tribute, and live up to Congressman Lewis’s example of constancy in the fight for justice.

Most of all, we must collectively recognize the charge he left us, to continue the fight for voting rights today. 

Every one of us is entrusted with his legacy and must carry it with us through November and beyond, as we fight for the life of American Democracy itself.

Many of our members have fond memories of meeting the Congressman in person over the years, and hearing him implore them to “make good trouble.” 

In the coming days, we will ask for you to tap into both the grief and the gratitude felt today, to continue to support his legacy. 

At the moment, we simply honor him.

May we all live and work in his example, as we find our way forward together.

How can we constructively manage risk of community spread of a novel virus, while making voters feel empowered to turnout and vote?