NY attorney general seeks voting reforms

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Promising to fix a broken system, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman unveiled a package of new rules making it easier to vote in the Empire State. For many New Yorkers, the polls are often problematic. The AG's office detailed many of the issues in a December report: long lines, broken scanners, missing names, and more.

The reform package, dubbed the New York Votes Act, aims to solve these problems by adding early voting, automatic and same-day voter registration, consolidated primaries, and shortened party registration deadlines. Several Democratic state lawmakers are already on board.

The push comes after an election when it seemed every aspect of the process was questioned, from allegations of Russian interference to a critique of the basic make-up of our democracy.

New York State does not have strict voter ID laws that critics believe suppress votes in poor and minority communities. Still, advocates say that in its current form the archaic system currently in place has many of the same effects.