Republicans and conservatives are claiming victory in the rejection of three ballot proposals that would have allowed mail-in voting in New York, same-day voter registration, and made changes to the state’s redistricting process. Supporters say they wish Democratic elected officials had pushed harder for the measures.
State GOP Party Chair Nick Langworthy and other Republican leaders traveled the state in the weeks leading up to the election to speak against the ballot measures. They distributed lawn signs urging a “no” vote, and the state’s Conservative Party ran television ads.
Langworthy, who held 40 news conferences to urge voters to reject the measures, says Democrats over reached and voters responded with “common sense.”
“All 3 resoundingly defeated,” said Langworthy, during a press conference outside the state capitol Wednesday. “People of all party affiliations voted to keep fair and honest elections in this state.”
Langworthy says in addition to the defeat of the ballot propositions, there were significant wins by Republican candidates on Long Island, including for county executive and district attorney in Nassau County, and in the district attorney’s race in Suffolk County. He says the outcomes are a referendum on the performance of President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Langworthy says the victories help “set the table” for Republican wins in next year’s statewide races, including the contest for governor. He likens 2022 to the mid-1990s, when GOP candidate George Pataki beat former Governor Mario Cuomo.
“And build the best ticket that our party has run since 1994,” said Langworthy. “And we are going to elect a Republican governor.”
Government reform groups who backed the measures say they are deeply disappointed with the outcome.
“This is a black eye for democracy and voting rights in New York,” said Sarah Goff with Common Cause.
Goff says what’s puzzling about the defeat is that when surveyed, most voters want to be able to vote by mail and also support same-day voter registration, practices that are in effect in many other states.
She also believes national political forces influenced the vote. She says former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud and stolen elections has permeated the nation’s culture, even in blue New York.
“It was very clear that Republicans and conservatives just pulled down the national messaging onto this issue,” Goff said. “Which again is misinformation, disinformation. The other side is not playing with facts or reality, nor are they presenting fair arguments about would have happened if props 3 and 4 passed.”
Democrats, who lead the state legislature, approved the ballot measures. Governor Kathy Hochul was lieutenant governor when they passed. But the Democratic governor and legislative leaders did little to promote the proposals. Goff says backers of expanded voting will have to do better next time.
“This is a telling moment for us, in that we need to work harder and smarter,” she said. “And it’s an unfortunate shared loss.”
Langworthy says he was also surprised that Democratic leaders did not advocate for the measures. He says perhaps they were silent because they knew they were flawed.
“The people used common sense and said ‘these are solutions to problems that don’t exist in this state, we’re going to reject it,’” Langworthy said.
If Democratic lawmakers want to try again to allow the voter expansion and alter the redistricting process, they will have to wait a while. The rules on changing the state’s constitution require approval by two consecutively elected state legislatures, so the measures would not be able to reappear on the ballot until at least 2023.
