Politics of New York City

The suffrage has been extended in stages since the founding of the state: African-Americans (men only) received the vote in 1870 and women in 1920.

[citation needed] The city has a strong imbalance of payments with the federal and state governments.

[10] The Working Families Party, affiliated with the labor movement and progressive community activists, is a force in city politics.

[11][12] In the 1820s, New York State removed all property qualifications for the right to vote for whites but retained them for blacks.

In 1870, however, five years after the Civil War, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving blacks throughout the United States the same voting rights as whites.

This led to strong Tammany Hall dominance interspersed by short periods of reform activity and representation, plus disproportional results party-wise and borough-wise.

[13] In 1967, a suit brought under the Voting Rights Act passed by the U.S. Congress two years earlier led to the creation of the majority black 12th Congressional District in Brooklyn.

Under the Act, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx are subject to preclearance by the Department of Justice before implementing any changes affecting voting.

Since then, congressional, state legislative, and City Council districts have been drawn so as to ensure minority representation.

Starting in 1975 election information was provided in Spanish as well as English, and in 1992 the City introduced ballots in Chinese.

As of May 2013, a new bill has begun working its way through the NYC political system to allow noncitizens living in the five boroughs the right to vote in local elections.

Unusually the variety of STV it adopted used the "uniform quota" where anyone who received 75,000 votes was elected and perhaps others who came close if that was needed to fill the seats.

A two-term limit was imposed on most elected officials, including the Mayor and City Council, but excluding the Districts Attorney, after a 1993 referendum.

The movement to introduce term limits was led by Ronald Lauder, a cosmetics heir, who spent $4 million on the two referendums.

[21] The post office stopped 24-hour service beginning on May 9, 2009 due to decreasing mail traffic.