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New York State Citizens’
Coalition on HAVA Implementation
The New York State
Citizens’ Coalition on HAVA Implementation is an ad hoc and diverse
coalition of Good Government, Voting Rights, Racial Justice, Disability
Rights, and Language Rights organizations and academics who are concerned
about the way in which New York implements the Help America Vote Act
(HAVA.) We are committed to protecting voting rights and improving the
electoral process in New York. The Coalition includes the Asian American
Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF), the Brennan Center for
Justice at NYU School of Law, Citizens Union, Common Cause/NY, DEMOS,
Disabilities Network of New York City, Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association,
New York Immigration Coalition, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest,
the New York Public Interest Research Group, (NYPIRG), People for the
American Way/NY, the Professional Staff Congress and many other organizations.
The Coalition is
non-partisan in nature and has been holding regular meetings and events
since HAVA was first introduced in Congress. Our meetings are not open
to media, politicians, their staff or candidates and positions are reached
by consensus (and after much discussion!) The Coalition originated out
of the Citywide Coalition for Voter Participation. The Citywide Coalition
has been meeting regularly since the 2000 elections and is chaired by
Common Cause/NY and NYPIRG. It addresses a wide variety of voter participation
issues including voter registration, education, state election laws
and the performance of the city and state Board of Elections.
It should be noted
that many of our groups opposed passage of HAVA, primarily concerned
about provisions for identification checks at the polls for many first
time voters that will have a particularly adverse impact on the state’s
urban population. However, all our organizations are committed to ensuring
that HAVA is implemented as fairly as possible and attempts to live
up to its promise for reforming the electoral process.
The Coalition has
produced numerous materials on HAVA that can be found on this site (it
should be noted that not every organization has officially endorsed
each of our materials.) For more information about either Coalition,
please feel free to contact us.
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