The Implementation of HAVA in New York: From Antiques to High Tech

Abstract

New York's election system, virtually intact for more than a century, will change in 2006. New York was the last state to bring its laws in compliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). What were New York's implementation choices? What accounts for the state's “strategic delay” in responding to HAVA? Strong, competitive parties and a widespread perception that the system was not broken helped to maintain the status quo. Interest groups, notably voters with disabilities who contended their civil rights were abridged, supported reform. HAVA, with its potential for more than $230 million in federal funds to replace New York's antiquated election machinery, was most important in overcoming resistance. The federal deadline for compliance forced the compromises that reformed most aspects of New York's election system. Pragmatism trumped partisanship and resistance to change. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.