Prohibits a court from bifurcating certain primary elections

• Democratic1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Robert Jackson says this is needed

The 2022 redistricting fiasco caused significant disruptions in the electoral process. As a result of the lawsuit to redraw legislative districts, the court ordered party primaries be split into two dates normally primaries for all offices would be held in June but the court ordered an August primary only for State Senate and Congressional races. Prior to 2019, New York used to hold two separate primaries, one for federal offices in June and another for state offices in September, but there has never been an August primary and not a separate primary for State Senate and Congressional races. The result of the court-ordered split primaries led to decreased voter participation for the August primary, voter confusion over two primary dates, and increased costs to taxpayers for holding two primaries within months of each other. This legislation aims to prevent the court from recreating bifurcated primaries. There may be times when the court finds it necessary to order a primary to be held on a date other than the one required by law but creating a new primary date that splits the offices to be elected does not serve the interests of justice, the voters, or the people of New York. Rather, creating multiple primary dates or bifurcating primaries serves to depress voter turnout, heighten voter apathy, and unnecessar- ily increases costs for holding elections. This legislation ensures that if the court orders a new or later primary election that all offices for primary elections on that date are moved and held together on such new date.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.