Newspapers across the state will print fewer public notices if Gov. Andrew Cuomo has his way. While the proposal could save the state a few pennies per voter, Cuomo’s plan will most certainly lead to a less-informed electorate.

Cuomo’s initiative, included in his budget, would eliminate the annual printing of election laws, certified election results, constitutional amendments and ballot questions. Instead of reaching millions of newspaper readers in New York, the state would post notices on the scarcely used Board of Elections and Department of State websites.

According to a memo from the New York News Publishers Association, the Board of Elections would post an abstract and brief description of proposed amendments online for three days in the week prior to the election. For many voters looking for information, the proposal just doesn’t work.

“I don’t know about you, but when I wake up in the morning, have my coffee and want to know what is going on in the world, I open a newspaper. I don’t go to a state website,” said Diane Kennedy, New York News Publishers Association president. “People who are going to vote, they look to newspapers to get in-depth information about issues they’re going to have to make decisions about in the voting booth.”

Cuomo’s proposal misses the mark on multiple points.

First, as noted by the New York News Publishers Association, the governor’s plan won’t save the state as much as he thinks it will. Printing fewer public notices would result in an annual savings of $342,000, according to Cuomo.

The publishers association, however, would like to remind the governor of comments made by state officials, many of whom have found posting information to websites too expensive or too difficult. Just 15 percent of New York’s municipal websites received passing grades in a recent survey conducted by the Empire Center. The rest failed to provide taxpayers with up-to-date information or lacked transparency.

Ensuring the tamper-proof posting of the state’s proposed amendments would cost money – maybe even more than the $342,000 Cuomo plans to save, according to the publishers association.

Cuomo also failed to consider the lack of high-speed Internet access across the state – an issue he plans to rectify within the next several years. In the meantime, more than half the residents in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties lack broadband access, according to the governor’s office. Good luck getting to those public notices without high-speed Internet.

With a total daily newspaper circulation of five million in the Empire State, the governor shouldn’t deprive voters of information to save a few pennies per reader. State officials could certainly find other areas to cut spending.