Lawmakers encourage mail-in voting
Primary problems shouldn’t dissuade voters, Democrats say
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Two Ulster County state lawmakers say mail-in voting snafus that took place in election primaries should no dissuade that type of balloting from taking place in November.
Senator Jen Metzger, D Rosendale, and Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston pointed out the problems had nothing to do with fraud as President Donald Trump has suggested would happen in November.
“Trump persisted in arguing that fraud is rampant for mail-in ballots yet quite fine and safe for absentee votes, which are also mailed. There is no functional difference between the two, and both have extensive verification systems,” the Associated Press has reported.
“It is absolutely vital that New Yorkers are able to vote safely, by mail, in the November election, and have the assurance that their votes will be counted,” Metzger said in an email. “Last week, we passed several important bills that directly address issues that arose in the primary, and we are convening a legislative hearing next Tuesday to see if any additional legislative changes may be warranted.
“Many New Yorkers vote by mail every year, this is nothing new,” Metzger added. “What is different this year, is the sheer volume of absentee votes that
are likely to be cast, and I encourage citizens to vote as early as possible before election day to help make the ballot-counting process smoother.”
Metzger represents the 42nd Senate District.
Cahill, who represents the 103rd Assembly District, felt similarly.
“There is no question about it, there were serious problems with the primary election of 2020 in New York State and in particular, in the City of New York,” Cahill said in a statement. “Current estimates are that about one in four ballots in some communities returned to the Board of Elections were disqualified and went uncounted. That is literally tens of thousands of votes.”
But Cahill said that wasn’t because of voter fault or fraud.
“While the scale of the problems encountered in the recent primary seems vast, it is important to remember that emergency changes to our election laws, in fact, enfranchised hundreds of thousands of voters who might not have otherwise been able to participate, that the system was essentially designed while being implemented and that it was benign external forces largely responsible for the problems,” Cahill added.
The assemblyman said the state legislature did enact measures that will ensure smoother voting tabulation in November.
They included ones that would create the presumption that absentee ballot envelope without a postmark is “timely if it is received at the Board of Elections by mail no later than the day after election,” Cahill said.
“Another measure ... would allow additional technical defects on a ballot envelope to be cured by a voter after notification from the Board of Elections,” Cahill said. “That bill builds on a measure I authored and successfully passed last year that would prevent the disqualification of an affidavit ballot due to inconsequential errors.”
Cahill added that a third bill makes it easier to apply for ballots.
“(This bill) simplifies the process for applying for an absentee ballot by declaring a voter legitimately concerned with an epidemic to qualify for receiving one,” Cahill wrote. (It) would expand the period of time for the application for absentee ballots to earlier than the current 30 days. Although not specifically related to absentee voting, a bill that would create a system of automatic voter would likely expand the number of voters and simplify the process significantly.”
Cahill added that “every one of these measures received widespread support and passed both houses of the legislature.”
An Assembly Elections Committee is conducting a hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 10 am, to consider “Elections in a Pandemic: A Review of the 2020 Primaries,” which can be seen at nysenate.gov/events or nyassembly.gov/av/live/
“Our goal is to maximize voter participation while also safeguarding against anything that would cast doubt upon the outcome,” Cahill wrote. “Our most recent experience shows that ordinary circumstances, not fraud, are more deserving of our attention in extraordinary times. Fraud in elections is practically nonexistent. Systemic voter disenfranchisement through arcane laws, inaccessible polling places, undue requirements for registration and voting and fear-mongering are all significantly greater problems.”