2015-2016 Voter Assistance Annual Report
1602–2015 NCEROTEVTASISASALAUNNRTOPRE016April2
The Voter Assistance Advisory Committeededicates this annual reportto the memory ofJane Kalmus.
New York City Campaign Finance BoardRose Gill HearnChairArt ChangRichard J. DavisMark S. PiazzaNaomi B. ZaudererMembersAmy M. LoprestExecutive DirectorRoberta Maria BaldiniAssistant Executive Director forCampaign Finance AdministrationKitty ChanChief of StaffSue Ellen DodellGeneral CounselEric FriedmanAssistant Executive Director for Public AffairsRudy CastroChief of Records ManagementSauda ChapmanDirector of Auditing and AccountingDaniel ChoDirector of Candidate ServicesOnida Coward MayersNYC Voter Coordinator/Director of Voter AssistanceRhonda GaskinsChief of Document ProcessingKenneth O’BrienDirector of Systems AdministrationCorey SchafferDirector of Administrative Servicesand Human ResourcesJesse SchafferDirector of Special ComplianceMatt SollarsPress SecretaryElizabeth A. UppDirector of CommunicationsHillary WeismanDirector of Legal Unit
Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC)Art Chang, ChairJohn P. AvlonDaniele GerardJoan P. GibbsPatrick RyanArnaldo SegarraMazeda Akter UddinHonorable Letitia James, New York City Public AdvocateMichael Ryan, Executive Director, New York City Board of ElectionsVAAC advises the CFB on voter engagement and works to implement legislative and administrativechanges to improve NYC elections.The Voter Assistance Advisory Committee is made up of nine members:ΛΛ two members appointed by the mayorΛΛ two members appointed by the speakerΛΛ one member appointed by the comptrollerΛΛ one member appointed by the borough presidentsΛΛ the public advocateΛΛ the executive director of the board of elections; andΛΛ one member appointed by the mayor in consultation with the speaker to serve as chair.You can learn more about VAAC and its members at www.nyccfb.info/nycvotes.
VOTER ASSISTANCE UNITOnida Coward Mayers, DirectorStewart ArmstrongSabrina CastilloWilbur ChildsSean O’Leary2015 – 2016 Voter Assistance Report TeamEditors/WritersSabrina CastilloOnida Coward MayersEric FriedmanAmanda MelilloKatrina ShakarianElizabeth A. UppContributorsStewart ArmstrongWilbur ChildsSean O’LearyMatt SollarsDesign/FormattingWinnie Ng
WelcomeAs we publish our annual report for 2015-16, many New Yorkers are trying to understandwhy our elections are still prohibitively difficult to navigate. New York’s presidentialprimaries in April 2016 will be remembered not for their results, but for the reports ofwidespread disenfranchisement and dysfunction across the five boroughs.Every major election seems to reveal new cracks in our election system. Year after year, NewYork ranks among the least-engaged, lowest-turnout states in the nation. It is no surprise.New Yorkers deserve better. Our city is a national leader in technology, design, andinnovation. In our daily lives, we can connect instantly to news and information, to ourfriends and colleagues. Government is more accessible now than ever; leaders across thepublic sector are using technology to foster greater connectedness and provide moreconvenient access to the most basic city services.Art ChangChair, Voter AssistanceAdvisory CommitteeIt is long past time that our election system catches up.Within this report, NYC Votes is proposing a series of basic reforms that will vastly improve the voting experience andremove barriers to participation.We need to make voter registration a seamless and intuitive experience. In 2016, it is simply unacceptable that theoverwhelming majority of New York’s voters still use a pen and paper to register. All voters should be able to self-servicetheir voter registration information via online and mobile. Universally accessible online registration is the only way to giveall New Yorkers the confidence they will be able to cast a ballot on Election Day.More voters must be allowed to participate in New York’s closed primaries. Our rigidly partisan primary system is thestrictest in the nation — New York is the only state that requires voters to affiliate with a party the year before an electionin order to participate. This unreasonably early deadline locked out thousands of voters who gave their attention to thepresidential election only as it heated up in recent months.Voters deserve a more convenient experience at the polls. This starts by giving voters more than one day to vote.Thirty-seven states across the nation allow early voting. A proposal before the Legislature in Albany would establish 12early voting days (including two weekends). Legislators need to pass early voting legislation, and the Governor — whosupported this proposal in his State of the State address — should sign it.We need to fix our ballots. The ballot — the most basic instrument of our democracy — should be intuitive and clear toevery voter. Embarrassingly, our ballots are still designed for the antique lever machines we retired in 2010. Poor design isone reason nearly 46,000 ballots were thrown out across New York State in 2012.This report contains information about how legislators can address these challenges with scalable and permanentsolutions. This report also contains a catalog of the exhaustive efforts of our NYC Votes campaign to encourage NewYorkers to re-engage with elections. Significant successes this year are concentrated on youth outreach, cross-agencycollaboration, nonpartisan GOTV efforts, and voter information resources. I encourage you to read the report for moredetails on this valuable work.Our efforts will continue throughout this pivotal election year. I urge you to get involved by taking part in one or more ofour programs. Help us build a more engaged New York, and join our work to give New York’s elections a much-neededvoter upgrade.Art ChangChair, Voter Assistance Advisory Committee
A Personal Note About Jane KalmusHow does one adequately describe working with a person like Commissioner JaneKalmus? Walking with a giant. I had the pleasure of working for her for 12 years, whenshe was the first Vice Chair and Commissioner of the Voter Assistance Commission,where she was a founding member in 1989, and then in her role as a founding memberof the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee.The biggest stand out was that she was unapologetically demanding and when she set agoal she was unmovable.As a confidant to Mayors, Governors and, yes, Presidential candidates and their wives,it was an honor to pause, listen, and understand the truth behind her voice.Jane (I would have never called her that in person) Kalmus had seen a lot. She wasborn to this work. She entered this world in 1920 — the same year the 19th Amendmentgranted suffrage to women — but she always looked towards the future. Whether we wereattending voter-themed slam poetry competitions or preparing for a voter registration drive atRikers Island, she was always prepared to pause, lend her ear and understand the truth of thenew generation.Her truth was democracy and equality. Whatever the community, her charge was rally thetroops and go in. As the first female City Hall press secretary, she believed deeply in the powerof the media to turn up voter engagement. Her devotion to finding solutions to, as she wouldsay, “a broken system” directly led to many of the current VAAC initiatives and NYC Votesprograms. Today and always we will honor the legacy and vision of Ms. Jane Kalmus.Onida Coward MayersDirector of Voter AssistanceJane Kalmus(1920–2016)
2015–2016Voter AssistanceAnnual ReportNYC Votes is thenonpartisan voteroutreach campaignof the New York CityCampaign FinanceBoard (CFB). To meet itsmandate of mobilizinglocal voters, the CFBdeploys nonpartisanstrategies to increaseparticipation at andbeyond the polls.Onida Coward MayersNYC Voter Coordinator/Director of Voter AssistanceThe CFB’s Voter Assistance Unit (VAU) coordinatesmulti-faceted programs under the NYC Votesbanner — from voter registration events todistributing voter education materials toconducting get-out-the-vote efforts — aimed athelping NYC voters cast a well-informed balloton Election Day.CFB staff actively enlists the help of community,government, corporate, and youth organizations toensure its programs promoting voter education andawareness permeate the city’s diverse communities.In this report:1. Voter Registration2. Voter Engagement3. Get Out the Vote (GOTV)4. Analysis: GOTV MailingThe Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC)is mandated by the New York City Charter toadvise the CFB on its voter engagement efforts,including recommendations for legislative andadministrative changes to improve NYC elections.The VAAC regularly hears public comment on waysto strengthen the electoral process and increasepublic participation. The VAAC holds four meetingsand two public hearings each year.5. Voter Advocacy/Recommendationsfor Better Elections6. Case Study: Recommendationsfor the NYC Board of Elections2015 – 2016 Voter Assistance Annual Report 1
1Voter RegistrationVoter registration is the membership card ofour democracy and the cornerstone of civicengagement. To be eligible to make a choice atthe polls, a voter first must be registered. Eventhe most well-informed citizens cannot expresstheir choice at the polls without an up-to-dateregistration.National Voter Registration DayNYC Votes joined with the New York PublicInterest Research Group (NYPIRG) to leadthe fourth annual National Voter RegistrationDay (NVRD) campaign in New York. NVRDis a nation-wide day of outreach to increaseawareness of voter registration opportunitiesacross the country. Through NYC Votes andNYPIRG’s combined efforts, over 4,000 NewYorkers were registered to vote in 2015, nearlydouble the number registered in 2014, earningthe coalition first place among all participantsnationwide.NYC Votes kicked off the 2015 campaign onNVRD eve with a panel discussion on votingrights and the immigrant vote in the 2016elections at Lincoln Center. Moderated byLisa Evers of Fox 5 News, the panel featuredL. Joy Williams of the Brooklyn NAACP,Steven Choi of the NY Immigration Coalition,and Jaime Estades of the Latino LeadershipInstitute. Marc H. Morial, President and CEOof the National Urban League, delivered theevent’s keynote address.On NVRD itself, September 22, 2015, NYC Votescollaborated with over 30 local organizationsto host 127 public voter registration drives andprograms aimed at increasing the number ofregistered voters in NYC. Partners includedthe Department of Homeland Security (whereNYC Votes began the day registering newcitizens at a naturalization ceremony), Carefor the Homeless, The City University ofNew York, Department of Health and MentalHygiene, Department of Parks and Recreation,Dominicanos USA, Health Plus, NAACP and theNew York Institute of Technology.The City’s NVRD celebration ended with aperformance of a new play about the effects ofvoter suppression, “When Truth is not Enough,”written by playwright Susan Charlotte anddirected by Antony Marsellis. It was performedon the evening of September 22nd at125 Worth Street.“The vote is the most precious right we have as Americans. Our brothersand sisters died to secure and defend that right, and we have a solemnresponsibility to honor their legacy by making our voices heard.”– Marc H. MorialPresident and CEO of the National Urban League2 New York City Campaign Finance Board
Student Voter Registration DayFor the second year in a row,Student Voter Registration Day(SVRD) brought NYC Votes intocity schools to encourage eligiblestudents to register and vote.On March 18, 2016, SVRD programs all acrossthe city engaged students in a conversationabout the ways voting can impact their dailylives. By connecting with students at themoment they become eligible, SVRD seeksto start the voting habit as early as possibleamongst New York City’s youngest citizens.SVRD is a collaboration between NYC Votes,City Council Member Helen Rosenthal andthe New York City Council, the New YorkImmigration Coalition (NYIC), the Departmentof Education (DOE), the NYC Board ofElections, and several community basedorganizations (CBOs).The NYIC facilitated a selection process fornonpartisan CBOs to be paired with each SVRDschool to gather registration forms from eligiblestudents and present the civic engagementcurriculum, which was created by NYC Votesin conjunction with the DOE. Members of theCity Council helped present the materials tostudents in their local schools.In 2015, the inaugural year of the program,2,000 students were registered at 25 highschools. For 2016, Councilmember Rosenthalsponsored funding through the City Councilthat more than doubled the size and scopeof the program. The SVRD coalition carriedits message of voter participation and civicengagement to nearly 20,000 students at 67schools citywide. By the end of the day, 8,500students registered to vote, increasing thenumber of youth on the city’s voter rolls bymore than 50 percent.Coalition SVRDtook to socialmedia to promotethe event on andbefore the 18th.Using the hashtag#YouthVoteNYC,coalition membersdisseminatedpictures, graphicsand messageson Twitter andFacebook to raisethe event’s profile.Thanks to theirefforts, the hashtagtrended on Twitterfor a portion ofthe day.2015 – 2016 Voter Assistance Annual Report 3
Participating Community-Based OrganizationsAlpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.Delta Rho OmegaArab American Association of NYAtlas: DIYBridgeRootsChhaya CDCChinese Progressive AssociationChristopher Rose Community EmpowermentCampaign, Inc. (CRCEC)Center for the Integration and Advancement ofNew Americans (CIANA)Citizen Action of New YorkCitizens UnionCommon Cause/NYDominicanos USADelta Sigma ThetaEmpowerment Zone Inc.Friends of Art and Design High SchoolGeneration CitizenGood Old Lower East Side, Inc.Haitian-Americans United for Progress, Inc.Immigrant ActionIndo-Caribbean AllianceJack and Jill of America, Inc.Latin Women in Action, Inc.Latino Leadership Institute4 New York City Campaign Finance BoardLeague of Women Voters of the City of New YorkLiveOn NYMinKwon Center for Community ActionNAACP Brooklyn BranchNAACP Mid-Manhattan BranchNew York Immigration CoalitionNew York Public Interest Research Group Fund,Inc. (NYPIRG)Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy CoalitionNYU Lutheran Family Health CentersOmega Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. FoundationP.A.’L.A.N.T.E. Harlem, Inc.Pearls and Ivy Foundation of Queens, Inc.Phipps Neighborhood, Inc.SCO Family of Services/Center for Family LifeSouth Asians for Empowerment (SAFE)Staten Island Community Jobs CenterStreet Corner ResourcesThe Black InstituteThe Gathering for JusticeThe Greater Ridgewood Youth CouncilUnited Chinese Association of Brooklyn Inc.University Settlement Society of New YorkWomen’s City Club of New York
Agency-based Voter Registration(Local Law 29/Directive 1)In 2000, Local Law 29 was enacted to provideNew York City residents with nonpartisan,public access to voter registration opportunitiesthrough local government agencies. The LocalLaw 29 requirements supplement the workrequired of public assistance agencies, likethe Human Resources Administration, by theNational Voter Registration Act (NVRA).In 2014, the Mayor took the additional step ofrequiring LL29 agencies to report their voterregistration activities to the Mayor’s Office ofOperations, requiring city agencies to makefulfilling that mandate a top priority. That sameyear, legislation was enacted (Local Law 63of 2014) to expand the requirement to sevenadditional agencies.As a result, the City Charter now requires 26 cityagencies (plus the city’s 59 community boards)to help register voters and increase publicawareness about elections. It directs the CFBto issue guidelines for implementation, andestablish training programs for employees ofparticipating agencies. As amended by LL63,the Charter requires each agency to “providethe same degree of assistance with regard tothe voter registration form as is provided withregard to the completion of its own form, ifrequested.”Throughout the year, the CFB’s Voter AssistanceUnit works closely with these agencies tohelp them meet these mandates. Materialscreated by the CFB and NYC Votes — includingan online training video and an annotatedregistration form — in addition to in-persontraining sessions, assist agencies withimplementation. Stewart Armstrong, I nteragency Liaison, coordinates these efforts withthe agencies and assists with developingagency-specific voter action plans.In addition to the core mandates, agencieshave publicized voting resources and voterregistration information via their websites andsocial media channels, hosted public meetingson local voting issues, and held their own voterregistration drives — 67 across the five boroughsbetween 2015 and 2016.In its 2015 annual report, the New York CityBoard of Elections announced it had received9,798 voter registration forms from Local Law 29agencies in 2015, up from 4,119 in 2014.“Participation in the electoralprocess is the bedrock ofdemocracy. Registering to vote isthe prerequisite for participation.For many the barriers tovoting are so substantial thatthey forgo the privilege ofparticipation. By providing easyaccess to registration with everyinteraction between a potentialvoter and a City agency we canremove one barrier and providethe opportunity for greaterparticipation by our citizens.”– Mayor Bill de Blasioupon issuing Directive No. 1 on July 11, 20142015 – 2016 Voter Assistance Annual Report 5
Voter Registration AgenciesAdministration for Children’s ServicesDepartment of Health and Mental HygieneBusiness Integrity CommissionDepartment of Homeless ServicesCity ClerkDepartment of Housing Preservation andDevelopmentCivilian Complaint Review BoardCommission on Human RightsCommunity BoardsDepartment for the AgingDepartment of Citywide Administrative ServicesDepartment of City PlanningDepartment of Consumer AffairsDepartment of CorrectionDepartment of Cultural AffairsDepartment of Environmental ProtectionDepartment of FinanceDepartment of Parks and RecreationDepartment of ProbationDepartment of Records and Information ServicesDepartment of Small Business ServicesDepartment of TransportationDepartment of Youth and CommunityDevelopmentDepartment of Records and Information ServicesFire DepartmentHuman Resources AdministrationTaxi and Limousine CommissionNotable ProgrammingSeveral of the designated voter registration agencies go well beyond their obligations under theCity Charter.For the past four years, the Taxi and Limousine Commission has hosted Election Day surveys on TaxiTVs inside working vehicles. The survey, available in Spanish and English, was designed to provide asense of New Yorkers’ experiences at the polls. So far, 36,082 people have taken the survey. In 2015,survey takers indicated that the voting change they’d like to see most is the expansion of online voterregistration, followed by same-day registration and having more than one day to cast a ballot.In September 2015, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) began to pilot anonline voter registration system with the help of the Mayor’s Office, the Department of InformationTechnology and Telecommunications and the NYC Board of Elections. While City employees arelogged into their DCAS accounts to register for civil service exams, they are asked to register to vote.If they select yes, they proceed with completing an online voter registration form, a portion of which6 New York City Campaign Finance Board
pre-populates with personal information storedby DCAS. Once the form is completed, the BOEis notified and generates a unique barcode tobe matched with a registrant’s signed form,mailed in at a later time. Over 100 people havesuccessfully registered using the system. Otheragencies are currently working to implementtheir own.NYC Parks had a particularly active year. Notonly did it host voter registration drives at eachof its recreation centers on National VoterRegistration Day, on Elect
Sauda Chapman Director of Auditing and Accounting Daniel Cho Director of Candidate Services Onida Coward Mayers NYC Voter Coordinator/Director of Voter Assistance Rhonda Gaskins Chief of Document Processing Kenneth O’Brien Director of Systems Administration Corey Schaffer Director of A
C H A P T E R 6 Voters and Voter Behavior C H A P T E R 6 Voters and Voter Behavior SECTION 1 The Right to Vote SECTION 2 Voter Qualifications SECTION 3 Suffrage and Civil Rights SECTION 4 Voter Behavior S E C T I O N 1 The Right to Vote How h
I am delighted about this Voter Education Curriculum whose development has been informed by the need to enhance voter education in Kenya. Effective voter education raises awareness among voters thereby enhancing their participation in the electoral process. Therefore, adherence to this curriculum shall lead to effective
Kick of your Reflection Arts program with National Arts in Education Week (2nd week in September). Host a voter registration drive; National Voter Registra-tion Day, is September 22. Host a voter registration drive; National Voter Registration Day, is September 22. Enroll your PTA in the National PTA School of Excel-lence program by October 1.
JANUARY 4, 2015 -JANUARY 4, 2016 FOR WINTER 2017 FEB 10, 2015 -FEB 10, 2016 FOR SPRING 2017 JUNE 16, 2015 -JUNE 16, 2016 FOR SUMMER 2017 AUGUST 25, 2015 -AUGUST 25, 2016 FOR FALL 2017 *CA Driver Licenses and ID may be issued before the earliest date. . (540NR form NOT acceptable) 3. Voter’s registration card or proof of voter registration .
For more information on completing Voter Registration Cards, please go to Basics for Completing Voter Registration Cards. II. NVRA BASICS Which agencies are covered by the NVRA? The NVRA applies to all state and local “public assistance” offices (i.e. offices administering public benefit
2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 . Removal handle Sound output / wax protection system. 11 Virto V-10 Custom made shell Battery door Volume control (optional) Push button Removal handle . Before using
1 Section 1: Ensuring and Protecting the Rights of Every Voter Poll worker training should include an overview of the mission and role of the poll worker, which is to help every registered voter cast a ballot and ensure each ballot is safely secured until it can be counted. This requires the poll worker to provide a positive
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS Cambridge International Primary Achievement Test MATHEMATICS 0842/02 Paper 2 May/June 2010 45 minutes Candidates answer on the Question Paper. Additional Materials: Pen Protractor Pencil Calculator Ruler READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your Centre number, candidate number and name in the spaces at the top of this page. Write in dark blue .
