NY passes Juneteenth holiday, automatic voter registration

AP CT Insider ^ | Jul 24, 2020 | MARINA VILLENEUVE

[yesthatjallen]

State lawmakers wrapped up work Thursday on bills ranging from automatic voter registration to two new public holidays celebrating Juneteenth and Abolition Commemoration Day.

The state Senate and Assembly worked into the evening Thursday on bills addressing calls for a reckoning on the nation's history of slavery and racism, a law shielding nursing homes from lawsuits amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and efforts to make it easier to vote in the Nov. 6 election. Several bills — including a moratorium on facial recognition programs at schools — will eventually head to the desk of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who then faces a 10-day deadline to act.

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AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION

Some state agencies will automatically register voters under another bill the Democratic-led Legislature passed.

Federal law already requires state motor vehicle departments and public assistance agencies to offer applicants an opportunity to register to vote. But in recent years, voting right groups have pushed states to automatically register voters who interact with those state agencies.

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[Midwesterner53]

Absolutely right, voters in NY, go to the polls on November 6. Be sure to cast your votes that day for the full Democrat ticket. America thanks you!

[a fool in paradise]

In Texas it was a day for a picnic or neighborhood celebration, or maybe a blues festival. It certainly wasn’t a day for atonement and reflection. It was a day of Jubilee.