Empire State Today

While New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is praising his state's new legislation for modernizing voting-verification laws by removing the requirement to present a document, Arizona's new verification mandates are being criticized by many for limiting some of the population from voting.

"At a time when the federal government is doing everything it can to disenfranchise voters, we are breaking down the barriers that have discouraged too many generations of New Yorkers from exercising their right to vote," Cuomo said. "I'm proud to sign into law these important voting reforms that are part of our first 100-day justice agenda, but this is only the beginning." 

However, conservative groups in support of the Arizona mandates believe that state's voting laws to be freer than New York's while simultaneously doing more to promote election integrity. Many Northeastern states, for example, limit the time in which opponents can rally a base through policies that prevent most early voting, while early voting is permitted for a longer period of time in the Southwest. 

Despite the modifications New York made to its voting laws, the number of days allowed for early voting remain at eight days, whereas Arizona allows 27, which polls suggest is favored by the American public. According to the Arizona Clean Elections Commission, the new laws will encourage more of its residents to vote by extending the early in-person voting period to 27 days. 

Meanwhile, Arizona’s comprehensive voter-ID provisions are closer to the average American’s desire to have a hybrid of both in-person and absentee voting than New York’s new law. 

The National Conference of State Legislatures notes that New York is one of 16 states that do not require voter identification at the polls. The others are Maine, Oregon, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Maryland. 

All but Wyoming, North Carolina and Nebraska backed Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, although Biden did pick up a single electoral vote from Nebraska's Second Congressional District.

Arizona, however, will enforce a bill that requires the opposite, requiring an ID to prohibit ballot harvesting, felons’ right to vote, the reception of mail-in ballots after Election Day, automatic voter registration and same-day voter registration. Voters will be required to present a photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID to cast a ballot.

According to the Honest Elections Project poll, 64% of voters, including black (51%) and Hispanic (66%) voters, as well as urban (59%) and independents (61%), want to increase voting safeguards that mitigate fraud – not decrease them. The initiative's findings also indicate that 77% of voters, including 92% of Republicans, 75% of independents, and 63% of Democrats support mandatory voter ID.

Approximately 64% of black voters, 77% of Hispanics, and 76% of low-income voters disagree with the idea that presenting a form of ID at the ballot box is a “burden," while 66% of voters support increasing protections on absentee voting, including a voter ID requirement to vote absentee, which U.S. Senate Bill 1 expressly blocks, Election Transparency reports.