Grassroots Democrats collect signatures in letter asking Gov. Hochul, who is to blame for “the absurdity of letting these proposals fail.”
By Dan Murphy
On election night in New York, three statewide proposals to amend the State constitution failed. All three proposals were supported by elected offiicals, and progressive groups and organizations across the state. Westchester and Putnam County residents may have seen road signs which read, ‘Vote No, Propositions 1,3 & 4’.
Published reports now tell us that wealthy New York conservatives help fund the effort to defeat Props 1,3 & 4.
Proposition #3-would have eliminated the requirement that a voter be registered to vote 10 days prior to the day of the election, in essence giving New Yorkers the right to same day registration, where a resident could register to vote, and cast a ballot on election day. The vote was 51% NO-38% YES, 11% blank (did not vote for this).
Proposition #4-would have permitted New Yorkers to vote by absentee ballot without an excuse. Curently, NYS Election law requires the voter to state a reason why they are applying for an absentee ballot, including an illness or that they will be away on election day. The vote was 50% NO, 37% YES, and 11% Blank.
The lack of a organized, well funded campaign in support of Voting Rights Propositions 3 and 4 have many New York Democrats wondering what happened, and who dropped the ball? New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs is one person that grassroots democrats want answers from.
In a petition being circulated across the state, NY Democrats are being asked to sign a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul which reads,
The Honorable Kathleen Hochul
Office of the Governor
New York State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Hochul,
The hard-working grassroots organizations and Democratic committees signing this letter were, like you, astonished at the loss of the voting rights propositions on November 2. You stated they were hijacked by the GOP, but New York’s Democratic Party left the door wide open with too little effort to explain and promote them. The NYS Democratic Committee provided no lawn signs, no robocalls, no social media, no handouts, no organized door-to-door campaign to educate voters, and crucially, no clear messaging to counter the phony “integrity” issue. While Republicans and Conservatives poured millions into their NO campaign, and the DSCC spent over $300,000 on a YES campaign, the State Democratic party neither allocated nor spent funds effectively to ensure that these long fought for proposals were adopted to amend the New York State Constitution.
The absurdity of letting these proposals fail is not lost on those of us who worked hard for years for a legislative supermajority and an expansion of voting rights legislation, only to see this fundamental tenet of democracy drop off the radar of party leaders to be derailed by a more clever, well-organized opposition.We know this is as unacceptable to you as it is to us. We urge you, as New York’s highest elected Democrat, to conduct an immediate review of this disastrous breakdown in NYS Democratic Party leadership, especially of State Committee Chair Jay Jacobs.
Please bring together leaders of the State Committee and all statewide campaign committees to find a way forward that prevents a failure of this magnitude from ever happening again.The 2022 election looms large, and we want to fight for candidates and issues with the support of a smart, determined leadership organization that understands the opposition and gives us the tools to fight it. We cannot go into next year undermined by those who should be our proactive partners.
Sincerely, Signature for NY Democrat (end of letter)
Last month, several prominent New York Democrats called on Jacobs to resign before the election day proposition losses after he made a strange comparison about the democratic candidate for Mayor of Buffalo, India Walton.
“Let’s take a scenario, very different, where David Duke—you remember him, the grand wizard of the KKK—he moves to New York, he becomes a Democrat, he runs for mayor in the city of Rochester, which is a low primary turnout, and he wins the Democratic line. I have to endorse David Duke? I don’t think so.”
Westchester Congressmember Mondaire Jones and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez called for Jacobs resignation. Rep. Jones said that Jacobs comments, “are part of a pattern of offensive, exclusionary behavior, and it brings additional shame to the Party that he’s yet to resign or be removed.”
Another prominent Westchester democrat wondered why Jacobs, “was spending time lining up support for Governor Hochul last month, when he should have been building the ground game to get these voting rights propositions passed? How can the republican and conservative parties get it done but not us?”
