On Wednesday, December 4th, Senator James Skoufis and Assemblymember Landon Dais made a proposal for a bill that would change the date of the future presidential elections and caucuses to Super Tuesday.
In a statement, James Skoufis explains their reasoning behind the bill: “Despite our population’s size, economic and cultural importance, and deep diversity, New York’s role in picking our nation’s presidential nominees has been relegated to the sidelines by a primary date that arrives too late to matter.” They continue, “No more. With this bill, our votes will count. Moving our primary date to Super Tuesday guarantees New Yorkers a real voice in deciding our next President, not just our donors but our voters, our students, our working families, and our small business owners from Brooklyn to Buffalo.”
Super Tuesday is the name given to the day when most of the votes for elections are cast across the United States. California, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Massachusetts are all states that have Super Tuesdays. It is believed that having a dedicated day for elections helps citizens remember when elections are occurring and to go out and cast their votes.
James Skoufis has gone on record on several occasions saying that he believes New York is not properly represented and falls too far behind on election days to matter. With this bill, while New York would not be the fastest election, it would put them in the running to matter in elections.
Skoufis also provided this statement: “As large as we are, as important as our Democratic electorate is, that will weed out the wannabes, that will weed out everybody else,” they continue, “If you cannot compete in New York, you can’t compete in the nominating process, and you certainly can’t compete in the general election.”
