Long Island voter drive generates 5,000 new registrants

Progressive advocacy groups marked National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday by announcing that they had enrolled more than 5,000 new voters from across Long Island.

Members of the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, Make the Road New York, Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, Moveon.org and other groups announced the results of the voter registration drive at a rally in Westbury.

The effort, which began in June, resulted in the collection of 5,021 vote registration forms, primarily from Latinos, African-Americans and recent immigrants, said Daniel Altschuler, director of civic engagement and research at Make the Road New York.

He said the registration drive is nonpartisan and that the groups involved do not keep records of which party the new voters are registered with.

“Newly registered and engaged voters are the most powerful tool our communities have to ensuring that issues — such as quality education for our children — are at the forefront of national, state and local conversations,” said Diane Goins, Long Island chapter president of New York Communities for Change.

Joann Smith, chief executive and president of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, said the group was working “to ensure that everyone, regardless of their positions or partisan leanings, becomes part of the political process and uses their power.”

The registration drive will continue through the Oct. 14 voter registration deadline, Altschuler said.