AGENCY TESTIMONY
Implementation and expansion of early voting since 2019
0:13:33
·
76 sec
Michael Ryan discusses the implementation and gradual expansion of early voting in New York City since its establishment by law in 2019. He emphasizes the importance of building a strong foundation for the system.
- Early voting sites increased from 61 in 2019 to 155 in 2024
- The expansion was gradual, with increments each year (61, 88, 106, 140, and now 155 sites)
- Ryan suggests that while 155 sites might not be the 'sweet spot,' it's a significant improvement from the initial 61 sites
Michael Ryan
0:13:33
Almost 1,100,000 voters voted, at during early voting.
0:13:39
But the thing that I would really want to point out because I I think it is, if if we can run the risk of patting ourselves on the back, I think this year is proof of concept for what we had said from the inception of early voting.
0:13:56
In 2019, early voting was, established by law.
0:14:00
We opened 61 sites, to some criticism at the time that we weren't doing enough.
Paul Seamus Ryan
0:14:06
Right.
Michael Ryan
0:14:06
And we said it was important to lay a foundation, that we needed to get it off the ground, and and make sure that it would ultimately work properly.
0:14:16
Since that time, in the successive years, we went from 61 sites, to 88 sites, to a 106 sites, to 2 years in a row of a 140 sites.
0:14:27
And this year we had a 155 sites.
0:14:31
Now we're not certain that that's the absolute sweet spot, but we certainly know it's a lot better than a 155 sites.
0:14:38
It's a lot better than 61 sites.
0:14:40
And we will continue, our efforts in determining whether or not, we need more sites and where we need those sites.
