NY Dems, GOP spar over whether November ballot wording is neutral or intentionally muddy

ALBANY — Democrats are livid that a proposed amendment for the New York ballot this fall doesn’t contain the words “abortion” and “LGBT” rights and are urging the state Board of Elections to rewrite it when it meets Monday.

Some Democrats contend Republican election commissioners may have muddied the language of the amendment to avoid the word “abortion,” which they say will result in confusion for voters.

A key Republican said Democrats themselves are to blame — they never actually put the word “abortion” in the statute that authorized the amendment question in the first place.

At issue is the “Equal Rights Amendment” that goes before New York voters this fall. Democrats say it is intended to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution, along with gender rights. Republicans say the amendment could have further impacts, such as clearing the way for transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.

To be sure, political strategy is involved here: Democrats, besides wanting to protect abortion rights, plan on touting the amendment as a way to push party turnout at the polls in November. Confusion over the amendment could impact that plan.

The immediate issue is the wording of the amendment itself.

The state Board of Elections has two Democratic commissioners and two Republicans who must agree on language for proposed amendments. Their draft reads:

“Adds anti-discrimination provisions to State Constitution. Covers ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity and pregnancy. Also covers reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”

Democrats say the wording — “reproductive autonomy” instead of abortion; “gender identity” instead of “LGBT identity” — is written at a college reading level when state law says ballot proposals should be written at an eighth grade reading level to reduce possible confusion.

“The board’s draft language violates both the spirit and the letter of the plain language law,” Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) told Newsday. “The law says a ballot question has to be in simple English that can be read at the eighth grade reading level. Clearly, that’s not what the Board of Elections did.”

Krueger and 31 other Senate Democrats, in a letter, asked the board to change the ballot question language to:

“Changes the State Constitution to protect more people from unfair treatment. Covers where they come from, their age, disability, sex, LGBT identity, pregnancy, and abortion choices.”

Krueger said when voters find a proposal confusing, they tend to vote no or leave the question blank altogether.

Elections Board spokeswoman Kathleen McGrath, a Republican appointee, said the draft was “modeled directly off the language” contained in the statute that puts the amendment on the ballot, which does not contain the word “abortion.”

McGrath noted that while an eighth grade reading level is suggested for amendments, it is not a requirement.

Krueger said there is a difference between what’s legally necessary for a statute/amendment and how to easily explain it to a voter.

John Faso, a former GOP congressman who has advised Republicans on legal cases including their successful 2022 redistricting lawsuit, said it's the Democrats’ own fault. The Democrat-led legislature, which approved the statute, used vague phrases such as “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive autonomy” that could be interpreted various ways and trigger lawsuits.

“They screwed up,” Faso said. “They didn’t even put the word 'abortion' in the amendment. So not only is this amendment unnecessary, it doesn’t even say what they say it says.”

Faso said the bipartisan elections board chose neutral language.

“It’s not intended to sway a voter,” Faso said, “unlike what Senator Krueger and the Democrats want. They want the language that appears in front of the voters to be an advertisement for voting yes.”

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy