New York could join Texas, California and more than a dozen other states holding presidential primaries on Super Tuesday.
The measure was part of a package of election-related bills approved by the state Senate on Monday, that now head to the Assembly.
There also is legislation that would add more early voting sites, and impose penalties for anyone accused of providing false information to voters. And a bill to protect election officers from harassment and political violence.
“In a time where the very foundation of our electoral process has faced challenges, it's imperative that we safeguard the rights of voters and ensure the integrity of our elections,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
The bill to move New York’s presidential primary starting in 2028 would shift that election to the first Tuesday in March.
“This proposal is really all about relevance,” said State Sen. James Skoufis, D-Orange County, the bill’s sponsor. “As it stands right now, presidential candidates only come to New York for one reason, if we're speaking frankly. And that is, they fly in and they collect big checks from corporate boardrooms and penthouses in Manhattan and fly out that night back to some battleground state or some state that is relevant on the primary nominating calendar.”.
Senators also approved a bill that would allow counties to add more early voting sites on a temporary basis and more training for elections officials.
The votes were part of what’s become a traditional focus by Senate Democrats on elections and voting issues on the first day of floor debate during the session.
Republicans generally supported the Super Tuesday move — which is new this year — and the bill on voter deception, but generally opposed most of the other bills, questioning their necessity.
“Find me somebody who cannot vote under the current laws that we have in place. It's nonsense. It's political pageantry,” said Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt of Niagara County. “It's partisan electioneering masqueraded as election policy.”
Ortt said the state should adopt voter ID laws. An amendment on the issue failed during floor debate on a bill allowing people to vote at a second home or while attending college.
The Assembly would have to also sign off on the proposals before they become law. Several bills have an Assembly companion, but at least one, the early voting bill currently does not.