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State lawmakers are crafting a bill that may allow New Yorkers to both register and vote on the same day.

The bill, championed by State Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, would amend the state's constitution and eliminate registration deadlines of up to 25 days before an election.

"The presidential election energized a lot of first-time voters, but there were a lot of issues. People were turned away at the booths either because they were not registered or they were registered but their names were not in the book," Addabbo said. "We don't really want to turn people away from voting."

Many voting rights advocates rank registration problems as among the most pervasive and discouraging hurdles for potential voters.

"Far and away, voter registration problems were the No. 1 reason New Yorkers called the Election Protection hotline last year - contributing to 56 percent of our call volume," said Zoe Segal-Reichlin, a spokeswoman for Election Protection, a national voting-rights advocacy group. "Easing registration barriers, and in particular adopting Election Day Registration in New York State, would be a tremendous step forward."

Reichlin said that more than 240,000 people, including 17,000 New Yorkers, issued complaints through Election Protection's national hotline in 2008.

Critics of the plan have argued that same-day registration is prone to fraud, but Addabbo is confident that the plan being developed will not jeopardize the integrity of New York's elections.

Under the proposed system, voters who register at polling sites would be placed in a separate ballot pool to be verified and counted after the election, similar to the absentee ballot system.

Addabbo acknowledged that the changes could complicate close elections.

"We'll get a better certified vote, but we may have to wait a little later for it," Addabbo said.

Lawmakers are also concerned that the increased responsibilities may strain election boards at their current funding levels.

"Certainly what we don't want to do is burden the board of elections into these pieces of legislation while their budgets are getting slashed," Addabbo said. "Our poll workers are going to have to be briefed and trained about how to entertain a voter who wants to vote and register on the same day."

Addabbo suggested that hiring additional poll workers and lowering the age of eligibility for potential recruits may be necessary to implement the program. But he insisted that gains in voter participation would far outweigh any potential costs.

"Anybody who is entitled to vote should be able to vote," he said.

The bill will be one of many election subjects discussed during public hearings scheduled throughout the summer. Addabbo hopes to bring the bill to a vote before the end of the year.

The changes must be approved in two consecutive legislative sessions in order to amend the state's constitution, putting the earliest possible implementation at 2011.