In pursuit of electoral justice, New Kings Democrats endorses the following key reforms for New York State and New York City.
- The New York State Constitution should be amended to make the State and county Boards of Elections nonpartisan, rather than bipartisan, and include safeguards against partisan favoritism at all levels.
- Like employees of other government agencies, the professional staff of the Board Of Elections, across all levels, should be hired based on merit, through a competitive process, without consideration of their political party membership, political activities, or personal relationships.
- Poll workers should be hired without consideration of their political party membership; poll worker training standards should be improved.
- The New York State Legislature should adequately fund the execution of elections.
- Barring changes to the State Constitution, County Parties should arrive at their recommendations for BOE Commissioner positions through a competitive, transparent process that includes the entire County Committee and not just its senior leadership. The City Council should use its power of appointment to extract promises of reform from potential Commissioners.
For more details, check out NKD's October 2020 explainer:A Path Forward: Take Politics out of the NYC Board of Elections.