With the start of the next New York legislative session in January, the non-partisan group Unite NY is launching a campaign called “More Voices More Choices” to get several “democracy reforms” passed during the six-month legislative session. The reforms including term limits, ballot initiatives and nonpartisan primaries are “wildly popular” with voters, according to the group.

The campaign is focusing on five pillars of reforms, including term limits for statewide offices, citizen ballot initiatives, improved ballot access requirements, instant runoffs and ranked choice voting, and non-partisan primaries.

In her first State of the State address in 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a constitutional amendment which would limit statewide elected officials (governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller and attorney general) to two consecutive four-year terms. Currently, New York is one of 13 states that do not have any term limits for governor.

Constitutional amendments must clear a high hurdle in New York. First off, an amendment requires a majority vote in both houses of the Legislature over two successive legislative sessions. Then, the proposal must be approved by the public on the ballot at the next general election. Once it is approved by the public, the amendment is ratified.

The second reform that the group is calling for is citizen ballot initiatives. These initiatives would allow voters to directly vote on issues and either confirm or deny them. Other states have used them to legalize substances like marijuana through a popular vote.

Thirdly, the group is calling for changes to the ballot access laws in the state which were last changed in 2020. Prior to the 2020 changes, a political party needed to get 50,000 votes in a gubernatorial election to achieve automatic ballot access. This allowed for parties, from the Working Families and Conservative parties to the Reform and Serve America Movement parties, to gain automatic ballot access.

In 2020, those requirements were raised to at least 130,000 votes or 2% of the total vote, whichever is higher, in a gubernatorial or presidential election. Once those changes were implemented, parties like the Green and Libertarian parties lost their ballot access.

Next, the organization is calling for ranked choice voting in the state. The voting system allows people to rank the candidates in an election in order of preference with their vote changing to their first, second, third or lower choice until a candidate secures a majority of the votes. This system is used in primary elections in New York City, including the 2021 mayoral primary which went eight rounds.

Finally, the organization is calling for nonpartisan primaries in New York. Currently, New Yorkers that aren’t registered in a political party cannot vote in a primary. For example, a person registered outside of a party can not vote in a Democratic or Republican primary for president. Unite NY is calling for passage of legislation carried by Brooklyn Democratic Assemblymember Bobby Carroll which would allow voters not registered in a party to vote in primary elections that are run under ranked choice voting.

The New York state legislative session is scheduled to kick off on Jan. 3 and run through June 6.