Election Day 2018 is less than a month away - and that means time to register to vote is running out. The deadline is Oct. 12.
To help get more people involved in the process - the Erie County Board of Elections, on West Eagle Street in downtown Buffalo, has extended hours Thursday and Friday until 7 p.m. President of NAACP Buffalo Branch, Pastor Mark Blue, reminds residents that Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently signed an executive order giving parolees the right to vote.
"And we want to encourage everyone to get out and vote. You know someone who may have had a small indiscreetly in life and now they have a record. But that record does not preclude you from getting out to vote," Blue said.
He was among several community leaders who gathered outside the Board of Elections Thursday, calling on Albany to pass a voter reform package that includes establishing an Early Voting.
"An election shouldn't just be from six in the morning 'till nine at night one day during the year that will have monumental impacts on lives of all Americans and all New Yorkers," Sen. Tim Kennedy (D-Buffalo) said.
Other proposed reform legislations includes No-Excuse Absentee Voting, which would make it easier to cast an absentee ballot, and Moving Party Change Deadline, which would shorten the time requirement for enrolling in a party or changing party affiliation.