New Yorkers reject expanded voting access in stunning result

Conservatives campaigned hard against proposed reforms while Democrats did little to promote the initiatives

Amid an array of discouraging election results for Democrats last week, there was one under-the-radar outcome that was especially perplexing. In New York, one of the country's most progressive states, voters overwhelmingly rejected initiatives that would have expanded voting access in future elections.

The vote, which came in a year when Republican-led states have passed dozens of laws to restrict voting access, left voting rights advocates stunned.