Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, joined by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, and members of the Assembly Majority, today unveiled the Assembly early voting legislation to give voters more time to cast their ballots before election day. Silver noted that a 2012 study by the Brookings Institute found that early voting has a small positive impact on presidential elections but a much larger impact on state and local elections.

The reality is that people work. People have family obligations. People encounter circumstances that hinder their ability to visit their polling places and cast their ballots. Nevertheless, here in New York, our right to vote in person is limited to a set number of hours on a single day.

Our right to elect our government representatives - to vote - is the heart and soul of our Democracy. Clearly, we do not treat it as such. This must be changed.

This afternoon, the Assembly Majority will take up and we intend to pass Assembly Bill 689-A, which would establish early voting for all General, Primary and Special elections in New York State.

Joining me in support of this legislation are a number of my Assembly Majority colleagues, many or all of whom are co-sponsors of the bill, including the Chair of the Committee on Election Law, Assembly Member Michael Cusick, and the Chair of the Task Force on Election Day Operations and Voter Disenfranchisement, Assembly Member Tom Abinanti.

We are honored to have as our guest today New York's esteemed Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman.

According to a U.S. Census report on voting and registration in the election of November of 2008,which was released in July of 2012, 15 million people reported that they were registered to vote in the in the 2008 presidential election and did not vote.

Of these registered non-voters, 18 percent reported that they did not vote because they were too busy or had conflicting work or school schedules. Another 15 percent reported that they did not vote because they were ill, disabled or had a family emergency."

I am certain more than a few families in New York State would say that the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy constituted a "family emergency" when Election Day rolled around last year.

In fact, our voter turnout rate for the 2012 general election was approximately 59.5 percent, among the lower in the nation, and lower than the 64.2 percent turnout rate for the 2008 general election. We can do better.

In order to expand access to the electoral process, increase voter participation, and reduce lines and wait times at polling places, our legislation would enable New Yorkers to cast their ballots on any day during a 15-day period before a general election and on any day during an eight-day period before a primary or special election.

Each County Board of Elections and the Board of Elections of the City of New York would have to designate at least five polling places where voters can cast early ballots, one of which must be the Board of Elections, itself.

Our bill would require polls at these locations to be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each weekday, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends during the early voting period.

Silver told reporters at today's Capitol news conference that he and his Assembly colleagues will pass early voter legislation because they believe Democracy thrives when as many citizens as possible participate in the electoral process.

Let me raise a few points that our colleagues in the Senate should take into account when considering our legislation.

At present, 32 states and the District of Columbia provide for early voting, so we are not breaking new ground here. Does early voting increase turnout?

A study published by the Brookings Institute in September of 2012, indicates that early voting has a small positive impact on presidential elections, but a much larger impact in state and local elections.

As for the popularity of the idea of early voting, a Siena poll released in January of this year found that 67 percent of respondents supported the creation of an early voting system.

We believe that all New Yorkers, regardless of their personal or professional time commitments, should be able to vote in each and every election.

Early voting will make casting your ballot more convenient and more accessible. It is time to enact early voting in the State of New York.