By Carl Unegbu, Rachel Landy, and Jarret Berg

This year’s Black History Month celebrations coincided with some remarkable developments in New York law that have a genuine potential to enhance access to the democratic space and improve civic engagement and political participation. And, needless to say, they are of significant interest to the Black community and should interest all minority communities.

For Immediate Release, Jan 14, 2019
Contact: (866) NYDLC-01; info@NYDLC.org

The New York Democratic Lawyers Council (@NYDLC) hails the speedy passage, through both houses of the New York State Legislature, of a package of election reforms that NYDLC members have fought for years to enact that will improve access to fundamental rights for the benefit of ALL eligible New Yorkers and finally begin to modernize New York's voting laws.

The New York Democratic Lawyers Council (NYDLC) praises Governor Cuomo's significant announcement today that his office will take immediate action to begin restoring voting rights to the tens of thousands of currently-disenfranchised New York parolees, and further, that his administration is committed to protecting the civil rights of future parolees by doing so on an ongoing basis.

On Wednesday (12/13), NYDLC submitted testimony to both the New York City Council and the NYC Campaign Finance Board, regarding the most prevalent 2017 voting problems arising out of the 2017 municipal elections in New York City and the urgent need to improve New York Elections via legislative and administrative reforms. Read the full coverage and testimony.

In a new GothamTalks video OpEd, NYDLC Executive Director Jarret Berg discusses the modern fight to vote in New York and across America; several desperately-needed voting reforms lawmakers should enact in 2018; NYDLC's election monitoring, pro-voter advocacy, and rights-based community programming; and the need for a drastic cultural shift among the rising American electorate so all eligible voters are ready to participate in local elections. Watch the full video here.

President Trump's #ShamVotingCommission led by known voter suppression artist Kansas Kris Kobach is considering gun-style background checks prior to allowing voters to be registered. Read more here...

The NYS Assembly passed several voting reform bills this week that would modernize New York elections and make voting more convenient for millions of busy New Yorkers—but only if the State Senate leadership is compelled to prioritize fundamental voting rights before the end of the 2017 Legislative Session in June. Join NYDLC's 2017 New York State Pro-Voter Call to Action today to get involved.

NEW YORK – The New York State Budget enacted over the weekend (April 9-10) included several bold new initiatives and much-needed reforms, but failed to include critical election law reform proposals.

The New York Democratic Lawyers Council (NYDLC) is calling on all New Yorkers who support protecting voting rights and modernizing our elections to take action by making 11 phone calls to key New York lawmakers every day until the April 1st state budget deadline, and to encourage those in their networks and other like-minded groups to ask their members to do the same.