Our view: Early voting deserves consideration from Legislature

Efforts to improve that number need to take place, and to that end, it was encouraging to see state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver propose legislation for 2013 that would establish early voting in New York state.

Early voting takes place now in 32 states, and in many cases it has helped increase voter turnout. Giving people a larger time window to go to a polling place could help get more out to vote. Some people might not be able to vote in person on Election Day but also don't want to go through the absentee ballot process, so early voting would be a solution. Early voting could also help reduce polling place lines on the general election day, another deterrent to voting.

In New York state, general election polling hours run from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Silver's proposal would require counties to establish early voting for 14 days before a general election and seven days before a primary or special election. Counties would have to establish at least five early voting polling places and have them open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., including Saturdays and Sundays.

The early-voting results would be counted at the closing of the polls on Election Day, so there's no way for early voting results to influence the voting that takes place on Election Day.

There's much to like about Silver's proposal, although it will be crucial for individual election board officials to be consulted so they can make recommendations about whether changes should be made to the proposal. For example, are five polling places enough or too much in a geographically large county such as Cayuga?

Local election officials should also be consulted regarding the cost of administering early voting. And if legislators do go forward with some form of early voting, they need to find some funding to help counties implement it. Early voting should not become yet another unfunded mandate from Albany passed on to financially challenged county governments.