My vote plan Capitol idea, mayor says

ALBANY — Mayor de Blasio took his campaign to increase voter participation to the state Capitol on Saturday.

Speaking at an annual conference of minority lawmakers in Albany, de Blasio sought to rally support for his “DemocracyNYC” agenda, including calls for the enactment of early voting and sameday registration across the state.

“If we are going to fight for fairness then we have to do something very fundamental — we have to make it easier for people to vote in this state,” de Blasio said.

De Blasio argued that New York’s current election system makes it too difficult for people to participate and he estimated that about 2 million eligible voters in New York simply do not register.

“That is holding back all of the progressive changes that we believe in,” he said.

De Blasio unveiled his democracy agenda at his State of the City address Tuesday. The agenda also includes a mandate for the City Charter Revision Commission to devise a plan for the public financing of local elections.

Gov. Cuomo, who has feuded with de Blasio on a host of issues, also proposed a host of electoral reforms, including public financing of elections, early voting and same day voter registration, as part of his State of the State address in January.

Cuomo on Thursday submitted an amendment to his proposed budget that would provide $7 million to enact early voting across the state.

Such proposals, however, have met stiff resistance in the Legislature, especially in the GOP-controlled Senate. Lawmakers and Cuomo have until the end of March to negotiate a final budget agreement.

De Blasio also used part of his remarks Saturday to lament the Trump administration’s anti-immigration rhetoric and hailed New York as “the antidote to what is happening in Washington.”