ALBANY, NY — The New York State Democratic Committee (NYSDC) on May 22 adopted new rules governing how soon a person must register with the party in order to be able to vote in the next primary. Under the old rules, voters must have registered to become a Democrat by October to vote in the Democratic primary the next year. 

Under the new rules, unaffiliated voters who apply to become Democrats at least 25 days before the Presidential Primary will be eligible to vote in the primary, and voters who apply to switch to Democrat from another political party at least 60 days before the primary will be eligible to vote.

The NYSDC does not have the authority to change state law, but it does have the authority to change the rules for Democrats. A group of reform-minded committee members pushed through the reform.

Kelleigh McKenzie, NYS Democratic Committeewoman from Assembly District 103 in Ulster County, said, “Our hope is that the State Legislature and Governor will now change NYS Election Law to establish a 60-day/25-day deadline for all parties and primaries. But even if they don’t, we are proud that our party got this done for the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary. Wednesday’s historic vote means that tens of thousands (possibly even hundreds of thousands) of new Democrats in New York will not have to sit on the sidelines during next year’s critical election.”

Mark Vian, NYS Democratic Committeeman from Assembly District 102 in Greene County said, “By removing this barrier to participation in its primary, the New York State Democratic Party acted on its authority to change party rules and welcome new members and their energy, rather than waiting on legislative change in the election law. This reform shows that the Democratic Party is serious when it comes to fighting voter suppression, in whatever form it takes.”

The move was fueled in part by thousands of young voters who wanted to vote for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary but could not because of party registration rules.

The 300 party delegates also unanimously determined that the date for the next presidential primary will be April 28, 2020.