WSHU-FM is reporting a bill to allow automatic voter registration in New York failed during the final days of the legislative session. The measure went down because of a mistake in the language that would have inadvertently allowed undocumented residents to vote. Sponsors say it was an honest mistake, but the gaff caused concern among Republican lawmakers. The bill would have made registering to vote an opt-out rather than an opt-in process. So when state residents would do business at a state agency, like the department of motor vehicles, their names would be automatically sent to the local board of elections to be verified for whether they were eligible to vote in the next election. It is estimated that the change could register 1.5 million new voters statewide, and supporters believe it could improve the accuracy of voter rolls. The bill passed the state Senate in June, but when it got to the Assembly, the Republicans discovered a typo that would have allowed non-citizens to vote. Susan Lerner, with the government reform group Common Cause, says it was “pure human error.” Despite the failure of the automatic voter registration measure, the session this year saw voter rights expanded. Beginning this fall, voters will have up to 10 days before election day to go to the polls for early voting. And lawmakers began the process of changing the state’s constitution to allow mail-in balloting and same-day voter registration. Read the full story at wshu [dot] org.