In 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation mandating the placement of polling sites on college campuses with more than 300 registered voters. The law came after Bard College in Dutchess County won a 25-year legal fight with the county Board of Elections to establish a campus polling site, to make voting easier for college-age voters.
A new report from Bard's Center for Civic Engagement, however, finds little has changed since the law was passed: few campuses have added polling sites, and those that have did so as a result of other factors, not the state law.
WAMC Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Jesse King spoke with Jonathan Becker, executive vice president and vice president of academic affairs at Bard, to learn more.