NYCLU & Community Groups Criticize Suffolk County for Rejecting Online Voter Registration Applications

“The online registration system was established to help enable New Yorkers to go to the polls,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “The Suffolk County Board of Elections’ unconscionable refusal to accept these online applications has effectively stripped New Yorkers of their voting rights. State and county officials must act to ensure that anyone disenfranchised by this policy has their voting rights restored in time to cast a ballot today.”

The Brennan Center for Justice uncovered the problem yesterday. Organizations that support the call for voting rights in Suffolk County include the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, Make the Road NY, New York State Civic Engagement Table, La Fuente Long Island Civic Participation, Project Long Island Progressive Coalition and New York Communities for Change.

The state DMV, in conjunction with the Governor’s office, developed an online voter registration process in August 2012 that permits voters to submit a complete and secure voter registration online, including a signature pulled from the DMV’s existing records.

“It is unconscionable that Suffolk County’s Board of Elections would deny people the right to vote who have registered according to the state’s online procedures,” said Daniel Altschuler, coordinator of the Long Island Civic Engagement Table. “The Board of Elections must rectify this appalling act of disenfranchisement.”