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Seth Wenig/AP
New York voters soundly rejected constitutional amendments that would have allowed for same-day voter registration and universal absentee voting in future elections.
The Associated Press called the ballot measure contests on Wednesday evening.
If approved, the proposals would have removed language in the state constitution that currently prevents no-excuse absentee voting and same-day registration, allowing lawmakers to then expand ballot access.
Twenty states and Washington, D.C., offer same-day, or Election Day, registration. Dozens of states, including many that are more conservative than Democratic-leaning New York, offer no-excuse absentee voting.
The ballot results in New York come amid strong performances by Republicans in Tuesday’s elections.
New York’s Proposal 1, which would have enacted a laundry list of changes to the state redistricting process, was also rejected by voters.
In the weeks leading up to the election, the New York Republican Party mounted an aggressive statewide campaign aimed at convincing voters to opposed the voting and redistricting proposals. Despite launching just two weeks before the election, that effort appears to have been hugely successful in an off-year election with low turnout.
Susan Lerner of Common Cause New York, which had supported the proposed amendments, called the result a “black eye for democracy” in a written statement.
A reaction from state GOP Chair Nick Langworthy was not immediately available.
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