COVID-19 impact
Pivot to absentee voting was a significant challenge in the primary, they tell lawmakers
Officials say they need more funding, resources, time and guidance to ensure the general election will run smoothly.
Election officials say they need more funding, resources, time and guidance to ensure the general election won’t face the same hurdles many New York voters experienced during June’s primary elections.
Nearly two dozen election officials and voter-access groups testified before the state Legislature during a virtual hearing Tuesday on the impact the coronavirus had on the June primary elections. They detailed the challenges local boards of elections experienced mailing and processing thousands of absentee ballot applications while ensuring voter access.
The issues particularly centered on the absentee ballot process. Thousands of absentee ballots were tossed for technical issues like a missing signature or a delayed return of the ballot, while other voters didn’t receive the ballot until after the election. Speakers also testified that local election boards struggled to get enough people to serve as poll inspectors.
Other challenges were out of election officials’ hands as the current systems in place weren’t set up for massive absentee ballot voting, said state elections Commissioner Peter Kosinski.
“Our election infrastructure in this state was built to have voters vote on machines,” Kosinski said. “When that equation is changed to 50 to 60 percent on absentee ballots, it puts a tremendous burden on the system, one that it was never intended to support.”
Elections officials also lamented the limited time they had to implement a broad absentee ballot program, an issue, they said, that will not change overnight but could be assisted with rampedup education on the methods available to New Yorkers to vote — including early voting.
Elections boards were provided a collective $24 million — $20 million from a federal government fiscal relief package and $4 million from the state — to fund the fast-tracked efforts of broad voting access during the public health crisis. But most boards have spent the majority of that funding, officials testified, so additional funds are necessary.
All eligible voters were mailed absentee ballot applications for the June primary as fears about the public health crisis increased, including the potential spread of COVID-19 at polling sites. Legislation was passed that allowed New Yorkers to use COVID-19 as a reason to vote absentee in the general election; however, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has yet to sign it into law.
Voter turnout for the general election is anticipated to be as high as eight million voters, and elections officials say the restrictions and programs in place to provide accessible voting options to New Yorkers during the pandemic could double costs for the general election, typically estimated statewide at about $25 million to roughly $50 million.
Dustin Czarny, Democratic caucus chair of the New York State Elections Commissioners Association and an elections commissioner in Onondaga County, urged Cuomo to sign the measures.
“I believe that is something that is appropriate and should be done so voters can make that choice to stay safe and stay home and vote by mail,” he said.
Local elections boards will face increased costs associated with the absentee ballot program, including postage and hiring staff to process returned ballots, but costs could be reduced through implementing some of the efforts passed in recent legislation, Czarny said.
Beyond bills needing to be signed by the governor, further recommendations in preparation of the November general election include reducing the number of days before absentee ballots can be counted to seven, expanding options for online voter registration and educating voters on the various methods for voting in New York.
“We will have eight million voters this year in the presidential election,” said Todd Valentine, co-executive director of the state elections board. “That is four to five times what we have in a primary. We certainly need to do all that we can to make sure we communicate to voters, and they take advantage of those days of early voting.”