In 2020, New York State became the 19th state to pass Automatic Voter Registration (AVR). About half the states currently have some form of AVR, and half do not.
What is AVR? AVR takes the individual’s decision to register to vote out of their hands and gives state agencies the mandate to register you to vote. This means that if you interact with the Department of Motor Vehicles, state social service agencies, or SUNY you will be registered to vote unless you specifically opt-out at that time.
AVR still has not been implemented in New York despite being passed in 2020. What happened? There were COVID-caused delays and after COVID was over, the State Board of Elections chose two separate private companies to implement the program and both failed.
In late 2023, the Board of Elections set up an agreement with New York State’s Office of Information Technology Services and they say that is advancing as expected. $16.6 million in taxpayer funds is allocated for this program and it is expected to be ready by summer 2025 for the DMV to begin AVR.
However, state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D,WF-Queens) wants to amend his original bill to change the opt-out to what's called “back-end registration.” This means that a person will not be given the chance to opt-out at the point of service. Instead they will be automatically registered to vote, notified by mail, and then would have to proactively ‘unregister’. If the amendment is passed it will push back the AVR implementation by 2 more years.
New York’s automatic voter registration system, originally set for January 2023, will launch in mid-2025—over two years late. The system, designed to register eligible residents during interactions with state agencies, faced delays due to pandemic disruptions, bidding issues, and technical hurdles.
The $4.1 million system aims to streamline voter registration through agencies like the DMV and social services. Supporters argue it could register up to 2 million eligible voters, while critics cite concerns about potential duplicate or ineligible registrations.
Despite ongoing delays, lawmakers are debating changes to the opt-out process, with some proposals risking further setbacks. Advocates stress the need for a smooth rollout to ensure long-term success.
It is widely believed that implementing AVR will help boost Democrat enrollment and perhaps help them gain permanent power in New York. AVR has boosted enrollment dramatically in some states, but that does not always translate into more votes.
New York State Conservative Party Chairman, Gerry Kassar, Said, “It's been a not-so-secret thing in politics that enrollment is not really related to turnout.”
“The Democrat efforts to grow their enrollment with AVR have not necessarily been successful. This time President Trump won the popular vote and Republicans win plenty of elections all over the over the country. In many places, most of the states now (not NY), they probably win the majority elections” said Kassar.
New York voters can already register by mail, in person at a Board of Elections, through the DMV, and, most recently, through the Internet. Voters have a variety of ways to register. It's not difficult; voters have plenty of opportunities.
“AVR looks like it's a solution — an expensive solution — in search of a problem," said Joe Burns, partner at Holtzman Vogel specializing in election law.
Burns said, "I think it's a problem when New York State commits to do something — in this case, launch automatic voter registration — and isn't able to pull it off. It causes regular citizens to lose confidence in our system generally and the electoral process specifically. That isn't good for self-government or democracy."
"Unfortunately, the state legislature frequently conjures up some big idea and then forces a state agency to implement it without giving the agency the tools it needs to do the job. It certainly looks like that is what happened here," added Burns.
Kassar said, “My personal view is that voting is a privilege. Voting is accessible to all American citizens, but it is a privilege where some effort should be made by you the voter.”
“I also believe that the automatic registrations raise the possibility of voter fraud. I don't want to overplay that, but I do think that that voter fraud and election integrity is a concern to the average American,” Kassar added.
To those who say Republicans and Conservatives oppose AVR because they want to suppress the vote, Kassar says, “I've always advocated for the most people possible coming out to vote. I'm a gigantic advocate for high voter turnout. We've always felt that that is fine for us as the Conservative Party. We feel that we're a populist group and the more people that come out to vote the better. Some people will say I'm crazy for that, but if I'm going make the effort to convince people we are right on the issues, I want people to come out and vote for us.”