Victory: The New York Legislature Just Passed Permanent Voting Rights for 43,000 New Yorkers

Today the New York State Assembly passed S.830, which would permanently re-enfranchise nearly 43,000 New York citizens. That means that the bill has now made it through BOTH houses of the New York State Legislature.

This is a huge deal. 

The New Yorkers directly impacted by this bill, three fourths of whom are Black and Latinx, have completed prison sentences and returned home to raise families, work jobs, and pay taxes. Before, they would have been subject to the whims of the governor to restore their voting rights via pardon power — and those rights could’ve been taken away just as easily. 

Now, thanks to grassroots pressure and your advocacy, S.830 has almost become law. Once the governor signs the bill, it will ensure that the right to vote for all formerly incarcerated New Yorkers is automatically and permanently restored. 

How did we do it? This is just a snapshot of what the Stand Up America community did to support re-enfranchisement: 

• Sent over 250 letters to the editor to papers around New York State
• Drove over 2,000 constituent emails and calls to lawmakers in Albany

You helped generate crucial momentum for this bill. We can’t thank you enough. And we are so grateful to our partners — including VOCAL NY, the Brennan Center, Citizen Action NY, Alliance of Families for Justice NY, the LetNYVote coalition, and others — who helped make today’s victory possible.

We’ll let you know if any additional pressure is needed to make sure the governor signs the bill. In the meantime, let’s take a moment to celebrate.

Laws that disenfranchise citizens who have spent time in prison are a Jim Crow relic that have no place in New York State — or anywhere. Automatic voting rights restoration through this bill is a step in the right direction towards the truly inclusive, multiracial democracy that we all deserve.