The St. Lawrence County League of Women Voters reminds all registered voters who may want to vote in the 2020 presidential primary that they need to declare a party if they are registered as an independent or change their party affiliation if they want to vote in either the Democratic or Republican Presidential primary in New York State next year.

League president Kathleen Stein, Canton, says, “Because of the extremely early party designation/change of party deadline in New York State, voters must designate their primary party preference by Oct. 11, 2019 for next year’s primary. Many voters may find themselves self-disenfranchised in NYS if they don’t make this decision well in advance.”

“This was a problem in 2016 when voters who wanted to vote in the presidential primary were turned away because they were not registered in the party whose primary was of interest,” she said. “Given the early announcements by many candidates for 2020, making sure you are registered in your party primary of choice for 2019 will be of paramount importance.”

Although history was made in 2018 as voters across the country turned out in numbers not seen in a midterm election in over 100 years, New York State still fell within the bottom tier of states because of a four-week advance in the voter registration deadline. Nine of the ten highest turnout states offer same-day voter registration or vote-at-home (Vote by Mail) policies. The LWV says this is an indication that “there is still a lot of work New York can do to improve ballot access.”

The St. Lawrence County League is a nonpartisan political organization open to women and men that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

More info: http://slc-leaguewv.org/; League President Kathleen Stein at 386-3812 or kstein1@twcny.rr.com; a Facebook page with daily local, state-wide and federal news items at https://www.facebook.com/LWVSLC.