Both Proposition 1, the statewide Equal Rights Amendment, and Proposition 2, a small Suffolk County sales-tax increase to support the phasing out of pollution-producing cesspools, gained enough voter support to pass on Tuesday.
According to the Suffolk County Board of Elections, Proposition 1 passed in Suffolk with 53.6-percent voter approval, or 371,398 votes out of the countywide 692,860 votes cast. The New York State tally showed the measure passing with 56.47 percent of the vote.
The Equal Rights Amendment codifies into the State Constitution the right to live free of discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy status,
and reproductive outcome. With the last two conditions on that list, the right to abortion in New York State is now constitutionally protected. Previously, it only protected people from discrimination based on race, color, creed, and religion — a much narrower scope.
Over the course of this election cycle, there was a heavy G.O.P. campaign to vote “no” on this amendment, best exemplified by a series of signs that popped up all around the East End that said “vote no and protect girls’ sports” and said “no legal rights for illegal migrants.” As The Star previously reported, the signs were paid for by the New York State Republican Committee.
The countywide Proposition 2 passed by a much larger margin: 71.58 percent of voters, or 489,720 votes out of the 684,181 total ballots cast, supported the measure.
Viewed by many as an act of compromise between the western and eastern regions of Suffolk County, the small sales-tax increase, one eighth of 1 percent, will provide incentives for people to upgrade to cleaner wastewater technology at their houses and businesses. In Suffolk, officials have said there are 380,000 nitrogen-polluting cesspools. Proposition 2 is expected to generate “somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.2 billion” over 35 years for water restoration efforts, according to State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr.
