For Immediate Release: July 13, 2020
Contact: LetNYvote@gmail.com
While we’ve seen important gains this legislative session, much like everything else in New York, COVID-19 has upended our elections and our ensuing legislative priorities.
As we’ve seen, the June primary was like no other. Absentee ballots are still being counted across the state and will more than likely continue to do so for several weeks. With the dramatic expansion of expanded absentee voting and modified in-person voting, it is clear that while local Boards of Elections met the challenges head on with limited resources and ever-changing goalposts, there is a pressing need to immediately codify some of the Governor’s Executive Orders and expand on them for November and beyond. It is essential for the Boards of Elections to have as much time as possible and the necessary resources to prepare for the expected turnout of the November election. It is incredibly important for New Yorkers to have confidence in our elections and that every eligible vote is counted. Therefore we recommend the State Legislature immediately pass legislation that addresses the following:
Keep & improve upon expanded absentee voting provisions for the November election.
Codify the expansion of expanded absentee voting for the duration of the public health crisis (either of these bills are acceptable)
Ensure every properly cast absentee ballot is counted
S8368 (Myrie)/A10744 (Paulin): protects ballots where voters intent is unambiguous
S8369 (Myrie)/A10746 (Paulin): deals with methods for sealing absentee ballots
S8370 (Myrie)/no same as: allows for absentee ballot curing process due to observer challenge
S8367 (Myrie)/no same as: deals with absentee ballot postmarking issues. We recommend that the bill be amended to require the Boards of Elections to use the USPS Full Service Intelligent Mail, which allows tracking of the absentee ballots through the postal service . Use of intelligent Mail would eliminate the possibility that a late-mailed ballot would be counted.
Provide a return postage guaranteed envelope with absentee ballots.
Temporarily enable the use of an online voter registration portal in New York City.
(S6463 / A8473) The pandemic has caused a worrisome, precipitous drop in voter registration across the state and in New York City. This bill would allow the temporary use of the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s online portal and would sunset as soon as the New York State Board of Elections online voter registration portal goes live in/by 2022.
We urge the Assembly to pass the following bills passed by the Senate:
S7194 (Benjamin)/A8998 (Dinowitz) provides students with voter information and application for voter registration
S6922 (Kaplan)/A9791( Lavine) increases minimum number of early voting sites to 10
We remain confident that the New York State Legislature will move quickly to pass these bills during the July session to secure our elections for the duration of the public health crisis. These COVID-19 related priorities are in addition to our priorities identified at the beginning of this year's legislative session.
For Immediate Release: May 5, 2020
Contact: LetNYvote@gmail.com; Info@VoteEarlyNY.org
LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES POST EO 202.26 TO BE REFLECTED IN A VOTER PROTECTION PACKAGE
COVID-19 has upended life as we know it in New York. And while the Governor has issued several Executive Orders that will help to safely hold our elections more work needs to be done. That’s why we are asking the State Legislature to convene immediately and strengthen the Governor’s changes:
Codify the streamlining and expansion of absentee voting into law
Allow for broadened absentee voting during a public health emergency.
Allow for the permanent electronic submission of an absentee ballot application.
Make it easier to receive and cast an absentee ballot, particularly for voters with disabilities who currently have very few options.
Provide voters with disabilities additional accommodations so they can vote absentee as needed.
Assure voters their absentee ballot is counted.
Clarify absentee ballots can only be challenged for a very limited set of reasons. Expand the dates, times and locations for early voting to disperse in-person voters.
The June primary is less than two months away and New York must do everything it can to ensure no voter is disenfranchised by having to choose between their vote and their health. In addition, Boards of Elections need to know of changes to election procedures far in advance of the November general election to be able to adequately prepare.
Our specific requests regarding needed legislative action follows.
Expand absentee voting:
a. Extend expanded definition of illness as a justification for voting absentee through the end of the year. S8015A(Biaggi)/A10271(Blake)
—The Boards of Elections need certainty and as much time as can be provided to plan for the November election.
b. Permanently codify the ability to apply for an absentee ballot through email or online without the need for signature or separate application.
—NY is one of the very few states that requires voters to mail in a signed application for an absentee ballot. Systems that are built to accommodate EO 202.15, permitting voters to request an absentee ballot electronically should be kept in place and built for permanence.
Additional ways to make it easier to receive, cast and count an absentee ballot:
a. Revise deadline to mail return absentee ballots to election day instead of 1 day before
(EL § 8-412(1); 9-209(2)(b)(iii)(C); 10-114(1); 11-110(1); 11-212);b. Suspend the requirement that the Boards place voters on inactive status if mail addressed to the voter has been returned. (suspend EL §5-213 through 2020);
c. Provide that ballots received by BoE by 7 days post-election day that do not contain a dated postmark at all are presumed to have been timely mailed (amendment to EL § 8-412);
d. Clarify and limit the reasons an absentee ballot may be challenged to the registration status of the voter and signature verification questions (amendments to multiple sections of the Election Law, as per accompanying memo);
e. Allow the provisions of EL §8-407 to apply through 2020 to public housing campuses and large residential developments and apartment buildings (amend EL §8-407).
Require the Board of Elections to provide accommodations for voters with disabilities who wish to vote by mail;
a. Braille and large print ballots
b. Special ballot marking software as well as online and phone assistance
Double the number of early voting days and increase the minimum number of early voting hours and locations for all 2020 elections. (amend EL §8-600).
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For Immediate Release: March 19, 2020
Contact: LetNYvote@gmail.com; Info@VoteEarlyNY.org
In response to the COVID-19 National Emergency and NYS State of Emergency, the Let NY Vote Coalition released the following Framework for 2020 Voter Access Resiliency:
The Let NY Vote Coalition recognizes the extraordinary circumstances and many changes to everyday life New York communities and the American people are facing, along with additional measures we anticipate may be announced in the coming days to curtail community spread and maintain public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Generally, our coalition firmly supports—and views as indispensable to the legitimacy and healthy functioning of a democracy—an indelible government commitment to the fair and routine administration of scheduled elections, with robust provision of resources and flexible opportunities for voter access so they may conveniently exercise their fundamental franchise. That lofty ideal notwithstanding, our Coalition recognizes that public health and safety considerations must always remain at the forefront of policy-making.
Actions already taken: The Let NY Vote Coalition applauds the quick action and emergency measures adopted by the Governor and NYS Board of Elections for the Special Election for Queens Borough President and also recognizes the New York City Board of Elections for the precautionary cleaning measures instituted to keep voters healthy and encourage safe voter participation. We further applaud the reduced signature requirements for candidate ballot access.
While we defer to the public health officials who are privy to timely risk assessments on the necessity of revising the 2020 Political Calendar, we draw upon our combined decades of experience in the civil rights, voter access, and democracy reform spaces to propose the following Framework for 2020 Voter Access Resiliency, which can help ensure procedural fairness and due process during 2020 election events in New York:
The Let NY Vote Coalition urges Governor Cuomo, the Legislature, and administrators to take the following emergency measures to protect public health and maintain voter access:
Extend the EL § 8-400 provisions of Executive Order 202.2 to any elections occurring before July 1, 2020, which will advance access, fairness, uniformity, and predictability for voters, administrators, campaigns, and officials.
a. Apply the suspension and interpretation of EL § 8-400 (Executive Order 202.2 (1)), allowing the prevalence of COVID-19 “illness” as a basis for any registered voter to request an absentee ballot.
b. Streamline the process for requesting an absentee ballot. Obtaining an absentee ballot is currently a multistep process. This can be simplified by allowing for submission of applications in one step by e-mail or fax. To ensure access, extend the absentee request deadline to the day prior to the final day of voting and the absentee return deadline to postmark or return by the final day of voting.
Direct County Boards of Elections (CBOEs) to provide each eligible voter with an absentee ballot request form, a link to an electronic version of the form, along with notice about the vote-by-mail option ahead of each election event, and the methods for applying.
a. Inactive and recently purged voters should receive affidavit ballots if they apply.
Mandate that CBOEs provide postage prepaid return envelopes with absentee ballot request forms and absentee ballots, for each respective election.
Provide immediate funding to CBOEs for implementation of emergency measures, including cost of: postage prepaid return envelopes; expanded use and processing of absentee ballots; and, incidentals related to poll site cleanliness and preventative hygiene.
Allow New York City voters immediate access to online voter registration. The NYC Campaign Finance Board has an existing system for online registration, which would reduce the need for and volume of person-to-person registration efforts. This can be done through immediate enactment of A8473/S6463 or Executive Order.
We further call on NYS Board of Elections to issue enforceable Voter Access Resiliency directives to CBOEs, enlisting them to help advance public health and safety while encouraging all feasible methods of political participation among the voting public, by:
Increasing absentee ballot request processing capacity in anticipation of greater volume.
Encouraging expansion of early voting locations and operating hours deployed beyond statutory minimums, as permitted by EL § 8-600, as early voting remains an effective tool to minimizing polling place crowding and waiting times to vote on Election Day.
Providing a continuity guidance, to be followed as needed, that outlines a process for responsibly reducing the Election Day footprint, including consolidation and reallocation of election districts or polling places and resources, with timely individualized notice to impacted voters so CBOEs may relocate sites away from vulnerable facilities and reduce Election Day staffing needs, while applying resources saved to absentee and early voting capacity. If sites are relocated, plans should ensure the facility residents are able to vote.
Instituting cleaning and preventive measures inline with the CDC Guidance for preventing transmission of COVID-19 at polling places, including:
a. Compliance with social-distancing guidelines of DOH and CDC then in effect, by adequately spacing optical scanners, check-in tables and privacy booths;
b. Provide antiviral wipes/gel; instruct voters to clean hands before and after voting;
c. Require election inspectors to wear disposable gloves to limit skin contact and to change them frequently, using antiviral wipes or gel upon removal of gloves;
d. Per EAC Guidelines, regularly wipe down or disinfect voting equipment, surfaces, door knobs and high-frequency touch surfaces within the poll radial;
e. Use glue sticks to seal Affidavit Ballot Envelopes;
f. Use tempered glass screen protectors for the electronic poll books that can be cleaned more effectively; and
g. Provide voters with disposable pens. Provide those who use a touchscreen ballot marking device with cotton swabs or other single-use implement.
Finally, having recognized that the scope and duration of this declared emergency represents a sui generis circumstance, the Let NY Vote Coalition raises the following questions for policymakers and administrators to publicly consider, to help balance public health imperatives with due process, continuity of our democracy, and Voter Access Resiliency:
What is the feasibility of providing every eligible New York voter with a postage paid absentee ballot without request, for each 2020 election? What strain would this place on administrators; can they be overcome with state resources and advanced planning?
Alternatively, what can be done to streamline phone or electronic absentee-ballot request processes to eliminate multiple rounds of back-and-forth and expedite ballot delivery?
In either case, what can be done to ensure accountability and protect voting rights for New Yorkers who cast ballots by mail? How can absentee requests, ballot delivery, completed ballot receipt, and tabulation be tracked, so paper is accounted for, absentee voting rates are transparent, and voters and the public can be sure that eligible votes are timely received and counted?
For any new emergency measures ordered ahead of an election, what publicity and notification efforts shall a CBOE take to ensure the public is aware of voting options and measures taken to ensure public safety? (ie, mailers, PSAs, digital, print, radio ads using media designed to reach a majority of voters).
Ahead of an election, what reasonable accommodations shall each CBOE take to ensure adequate disability and language access, for each emergency measure taken?
What steps can be taken to enlist CBOEs support in stemming the rise of anti-Asian American and anti-immigrant discrimination related to COVID-19? Could an updated guidance help with spotting, mitigating, and deescalating bias that may impact voters?
Since two-thirds of states already permit universal vote by mail, will lawmakers commit to the Second Passage of no-excuse absentee voting on the first day of the 2021 legislative session, to improve our voter access resiliency infrastructure in the future?
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