Read on Twitter
I appreciate leaders like @CynthiaNixon focusing on NY’s antiquated election laws. There’s so much work to do! The delay in counting absentee ballots is part of that, but let me suggest that on balance it’s actually more helpful than harmful to NYers voting rights. (1/10) https://twitter.com/CynthiaNixon/status/1325852490026393602
In NY, you can vote in-person even if you’ve requested (or mailed in!) an absentee ballot. An in-person vote supersedes an absentee vote—key this year with the USPS. But election officials need time to reconcile in-person voting records before counting absentee ballots. (2/10)
When poll books were paper (back in 2018) this could take days. With e-poll books, records can be reconciled quickly, so officials don’t need a week anymore, but during that week, they’re verifying signatures on ballot envelopes and notifying voters of missing signatures. (3/10)
@CynthiaNixon is right! We should amend the election law so that officials can start counting absentee ballots asap. But there are much higher priorities to improve our democracy that I hope you’ll also help advocate for. Here are some of them: (4/10)
We need to replace our good-cause requirement for absentee ballots and our 25-day registration deadline with state constitutional amendments to permit no-excuse mail-in voting and same-day registration. Those can be completed in 2021! (5/10)
We must pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of NY (S.7528A/A.10841A), the nation’s strongest and most comprehensive state voting rights act—protecting NYers against vote dilution and suppression while making more data easily available to improve our election system. (6/10)
We need to increase the availability of early voting, which was SO popular this year, by increasing the number of days and the number of early voting locations and strengthening protections against long lines! (7/10)
We need to ensure that New Yorkers are never disenfranchised because of their involvement with the criminal legal system. We need to get cops out of polling places in NYC and replace them with people well-trained to both assist voters and poll workers. (8/10)
There’s a long way to go before NY gets mail-in voting right. We’re not used to it. In most years, only ~5% of votes are cast by mail in NY, mostly because our state constitution makes it unnecessarily difficult to get an absentee ballot. But we’ll keep working on it. (9/10)
In the meantime, the most important thing is for folks to be patient as our election officials count ballots and to demand that every ballot is counted accurately. It may take longer than usual, but we’ll fight to make sure your vote counts and your voice is heard. (10/10)
