Isn’t that special?

Eager to take advantage of a weakened Andrew Cuomo, the Legislature wanted to force the governor to call special elections when there is a vacancy in the state Senate or Assembly. So the two houses passed, and on Aug. 2 the governor signed, a bill doing so. That was a day before the attorney general’s report on sexual harassment.

But in crafting the new law, legislators botched it, not factoring in the timing of regularly scheduled general elections. The flaw has become apparent almost immediately.

We don’t particularly like Albany special elections, since they don’t allow for primaries and party bosses select the candidates. Those same reasons are why political insiders really love specials. Under the new law, the governor must set a special election 40 to 60 days following a vacancy. Except for that 20-day window, there is no wiggle room. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

About three weeks after the new statute took effect, Gov. Hochul selected state Sen. Brian Benjamin as lieutenant governor. But she couldn’t install him right away, for that would create a vacancy in his Harlem seat, requiring the scheduling of a special election between Oct. 5 and Oct. 25, including the mandatory 10 days of early voting beforehand. That would be really dumb, as there is a general election on Nov. 2, with early voting beginning Oct. 23.

So Hochul, being smart, is waiting until this week to elevate Benjamin. This way, she can schedule the special to replace him coincide with Election Day, saving money and inconvenience and boosting turnout. The law mandates that only vacancies occurring between Sept. 3 and Sept. 23 can have their specials on Election Day. Any vacancy before or after then cannot be filled on Election Day.

Benjamin (and Hochul) have flexibility. A senator or assemblymember leaving office outside the narrow time period through resignation or death (or just as likely, imprisonment) would create a mess. Special elections for City Council vacancies occurring from August on are automatically held on Election Day. Fix Albany’s bad law.