ITHACA, NY (CortacaToday) — A proposed law aimed at boosting participation at the polls is seeing mixed reactions.

The legislation would require Ithaca landlords to give voter registration forms to new tenants. Alderperson Margaret Fabrizio believes the bill would be a burden on city staff.

“We don’t really have the bandwidth,” she said. “We’re struggling to effectively do code enforcement on safety and health issues, and buildings.”

Alderperson David Shapiro also opposes the legislation, calling it “government overreach.”

Supporters of the bill, like Alderperson Patrick Kuehl, believe it would benefit transients with busy schedules.

“To say that ‘oh, well you can just go any time of the day to pick up a voter registration form’ is not true for a large percentage of our population,” he said.

Ithaca’s Common Council will continue discussions at a future meeting.