Dem: Start mail-in tally on Elex Day

ALBANY — A top Democrat in the state Senate is pitching legislation that would speed up the counting of absentee ballots in the Empire State.

As dozens of state legislative races have yet to be determined and the canvassing of ballots begins, Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) will announce new legislation Tuesday that would enable election officials to begin tallying mail-in votes on Election Day. “There is no good excuse for election results to continue to be up in the air weeks and months after people have already cast their votes,” Gianaris (inset) said.

Local election boards only began counting the more than 1.5 million absentee ballots sent in amid the coronavirus crisis Monday, nearly a week after Election Day.

Gianaris’ measure is particularly timely as Dems await the results of more than half a dozen tight Senate races across the state.

Election Day returns showed several Republicans with sizable leads over incumbent Democrats, prompting the GOP to declare victory in many cases.

Democrats, who currently control the Senate by a 40-to-23 margin, were hoping to add two seats for a veto-proof supermajority.

While unofficial in-person results favored Republicans, Dems are optimistic the sheer number of absentee ballots will weigh in their favor. About 930,000 ballots were returned by Democrats, while 260,000 were returned by Republicans, according to the state Board of Elections.

Gianaris’ proposal would significantly reduce the nail-biting by allowing absentee ballots to begin being canvassed three hours before polls close on Election Day. Absentee ballot envelopes would also be examined for validity at the time of their arrival at local Boards of Elections as opposed to days, or sometimes weeks, later.

Since taking over control of the Legislature in 2018, Democrats have passed a number of measures related to election processes, including introducing early voting and electronic poll books and making it easier to request an absentee ballot.

“Our Senate majority will continue to do the work of improving our election processes to ensure everyone has easy access to the ballot and election results are clear and timely,” Gianaris said.