Hallelujah! In a day we thought might never come, New York's newly Democratic-controlled legislature just passed a sweeping set of long-awaited voting rights reforms that will make it much easier to vote. Stephen Wolf has a complete roundup of all the measures, which include creating an early voting period for the first time and constitutional amendments to allow same-day registration and no-excuse absentee voting. The one we want to focus on here, though, is a bill that finally ends New York's unique (and uniquely awful) two-primary system.
This arrangement has been in place since 2012, when a federal judge ordered the state to move its federal primaries from September to June in order to comply with a federal law requiring ballots be sent to overseas voters at least 45 days before Election Day. Because this federal law doesn’t affect state elections, the judge left the September state-level primaries untouched, though he encouraged lawmakers to consolidate the two dates.
Democrats in the Assembly had long pressed for a single June primary and had passed legislation to that effect, but Republicans in the state Senate had always blocked it, likely for cynical incumbent-protection reasons. Following the 2018 blue wave, though, Democrats now have a giant 39-24 majority in the Senate, and they're using their new-found power to turn the Empire State from progressive laggard to progressive leader.
As a result, New York will now have just one primary for all races on the fourth Tuesday in June, starting this year, just as soon as Gov. Andre Cuomo signs the legislation, which he’s all but certain to do. In 2020, the next year there will be federal elections, that primary will take place on June 23 (though there will likely be a separate presidential primary). This change will mean less expense for the state, and should also lead to higher turnout—a long overdue double win for good governance.