New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Wednesday signed an executive order giving all parolees in New York the right to vote.

The move comes after he noted that the New York Legislature voted down such a measure.

The executive order, effective immediately, restores the voting rights of 35,000 individuals currently on parole in New York.

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“I’m going to make it law by executive order,” Cuomo said during a speech to the National Action Network’s annual conference.

“It is unconscionable to deny voting rights to New Yorkers who have paid their debt and have re-entered society,” he said in a statement. “This reform will reduce disenfranchisement and will help restore justice and fairness to our democratic process. Withholding or delaying voting rights diminishes our democracy.”

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According to the statement, people on probation never lose the right to vote in New York. However, county election officials often fail to distinguish between people on parole and those on prohibition, leading numerous people to be illegally disenfranchised.

Cuomo points out that the executive order is the latest part of his overall push to make sweeping criminal justice reform.

The two-term governor is currently in an increasingly competitive battle for the governor’s mansion.

Actress Cynthia Nixon launched a challenge from the left for the Democratic nomination last month, accusing Cuomo of being too much of a centrist.

Cuomo currently leads Nixon by more than 30 points, according to a Siena College poll, but Nixon has narrowed Cuomo’s lead by 16 points in less than one month.

This story was updated at 2:19 p.m.

Former Obama-era Housing Secretary Julián Castro says he will announce by the end of the year whether he plans to run for president in 2020.

“After November and before the end of the year I will make a decision about my own future,” Castro, 43, said on C-SPAN Tuesday morning. “I’m going to think about it.”

WATCH: @JulianCastro is considering a run for president in 2020 & tells us he will “make a decision by the end of the year.” pic.twitter.com/TpXmpOyBri

— Washington Journal (@cspanwj) May 15, 2018

The former mayor of San Antonio said President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE is taking the country in “the wrong direction.” He said he supports a foreign policy that is less forceful and not “necessarily” based on military power. 

Castro, who was once considered as a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton in 2016, said Trump is taking the U.S. “backward.”

“This the most corrupt administration that we have had in this country in a very long time,” Castro said.

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Castro, who is also helping “young progressive Democrats” in this year’s midterm elections, has not been shy about his political ambitions. 

Back in February, he also told NBC News has “every interest in running” for president in 2020.

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EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager is leaning toward appealing the July court judgment annulling her €13 billion tax bill for Apple in Ireland, though the decision has yet to be finalized ahead of a Friday deadline, according to two senior EU officials.

The decision is officially still under discussion, one of the officials said, “but I think it will be a Yes.”

With an appeal to the EU’s highest court, Vestager would double down on the Apple tax bomb she dropped in August 2016, when she found Dublin had illegally subsidized the tech giant by allowing it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses.

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The case was part of a wider campaign to crack down on tax avoidance and stop countries such as Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands from offering sweetheart deals to multinationals, including Amazon, Fiat, Engie and Starbucks.

Judges at the EU General Court overturned the Commission’s decision in a July 15 ruling, saying Brussels had failed to demonstrate “to the requisite legal standard” that Apple was granted an illegal advantage.

If the judgment was notified on the same day, which usually happens, Vestager has until Friday at 11:59 p.m. to escalate the case with the European Court of Justice, a move that would keep the €14.3 billion (€13.1 billion in fine and €1.2 billion in interests) parked in an escrow account pending the final outcome of the case.

Lawyers have said the Commission’s appeal chances were slim, in part because the ECJ only hears points of law, and a large part of the General Court’s reasoning was based on facts.

Vestager previously did not appeal another ruling annulling her decision ordering the Netherlands to recover between €20 million and €30 million in tax benefits for Starbucks.