By Teri Weaver | tweaver@syracuse.com The Post-Standard
February 27, 2014

SYRACUSE, N.Y.   A proposal in Albany to make it easier for hunters and anglers to register to vote has been dubbed the “NRA voter assistance act” by one critical lawmaker.

The proposal would make voter registration an option for people who buy hunting and fishing licenses through the state’s Department of Environmental Conversation.

Already, people who interact with other government agencies – including the Department of Motor Vehicles, social service agencies and unemployment offices – can register to vote while renewing a driver’s license or applying for other public programs.

Sen. Greg Ball, R-Patterson, wants to add the DEC to that list.

But some Democratic senators questioned that today, arguing Ball’s bill was really intended to help hunters and fishers – who might oppose New York’s gun laws under the NY Safe Act – to register to vote.

Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, called the bill “the NRA voter assistance act” during today’s floor debate.

Later, Ball pulled the proposal before a vote was held.

Similar legislation passed the Senate twice in the past two years. Last year, it passed 54-9; all of Central New York’s senators voted in favor of the bill. Hoylman voted against the proposal last year.

The Assembly did not take up the bill last year.

Contact Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com, 315-470-2274 or on Twitter at @TeriKWeaver.

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