New York Elections Cannot Turn Into Wisconsin

NEW YORK, NY (04/10/2020) (readMedia)-- Today, Common Cause Wisconsin Executive Director Jay Heck, Common Cause New York Deputy Director Sarah Goff, and Democratic Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny joined together on a press conference call to outline how New York must prepare for upcoming elections so voters can cast their ballots safely.

On Monday, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers tried to halt in person voting for the primary, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court blocked the order. As a result, millions of voters were forced to wait hours to cast their ballots in person, and risked their health amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On the morning of Election Day, the number of poll sites in Milwaukee reduced from 180 to 5.

"Tuesday's election in Wisconsin was an avoidable travesty that need not occur in New York. With foresight and planning, like expanding absentee voting and increasing early voting days and poll sites, voters will be able to exercise their democratic rights without risking their lives," said Sarah Goff, Deputy Director of Common Cause/NY.

"Wisconsin should be a warning for New York state and the rest of the nation. Voters should not have to choose between their health and making their voices heard," said Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin.

Although Governor Cuomo correctly issued an executive order to expand absentee voting on Thursday, it does not replace the need for legislative action to codify these changes into law to protect voters in the November election and beyond. New York can not entirely eliminate in-person voting either. Instead, we must increase early voting options to disperse voters and protect public health.

Common Cause/NY called for expanded absentee voting in New York. Currently, New York State has a very narrow set of reasons as to why voters can request an absentee ballot and vote absentee. Senator Biaggi has introduced a bill expanding those qualifications to include voters who are concerned over the spread of an illness during a state of emergency like COVID-19. Unlike Governor Cuomo's executive order, Biaggi's bill -- once passed -- will become state law and help all voters for years to come.

"The Governor's actions to expand the reason for absentees to include the COVID-19 crisis and allow email applications for absentees was an important first step to protect voters for the June combined primaries. The legislature now needs to act to ensure we have these protections in place for the November election and beyond," said Dusin Czarny, Democratic Onondaga County Elections Commissioner.

Additionally Common Cause/NY is calling for doubling early voting days from 9 to 18, as well as adding more poll sites to distribute and disperse voters. Other states, like Washington, give voters 18 days to cast their ballots early. With more time to vote and additional poll sites, voters will have more opportunities to cast their ballot safely.

At the end of March, Common Cause/NY released a white paper with recommendations for how New York elections can proceed during a pandemic, and the NYS Election Commissioners' Association released a letter outlining their same position to expand absentee voting and consolidate the primaries.

Background

Common Cause/NY's recommendations for how to proceed with an election during COVD-19:

• [ENACTED]: The April 28th presidential primary, and all other elections scheduled for that date, should be consolidated to the June 23rd primary given the escalating spread of the virus around the state. This will give local boards of elections much needed time to adjust their plans for early voting and election day.
• A uniform and measured expansion of the requirements to vote absentee extending the provisions of the Governor's Executive Order to make it easier for voters to request a ballot.
  • The process of requesting an absentee ballot requires voters to provide a mailing address where the ballot should be sent. This would dramatically increase the likelihood of a voter receiving their requested ballot. This would also provide BOEs an opportunity to update their voter file with the correct address.
• Local boards of elections must immediately prepare to scale up for the expansion of absentee voting, which means:
  • developing a more robust ballot tracking process.
  • providing pre-paid postage for return envelopes.
  • designating an abundance of secure drop box locations that aren't just USPS mailboxes.
  • The state must allocate additional funds to deal with additional costs associated with printing, instituting new infrastructure, voter outreach and education, equipment maintenance, translation services, and staff training.
• Maintain accomodations for in-person early voting and election day voting. For some voters, absentee voting is not feasible. This is particularly true for disabled voters who require the use of ballot marking devices such as those who are vision impaired, or have a disability or condition that would make it difficult or impossible to mark a ballot by hand as well as those who need access to translation services. Even '100% vote by mail states' like Washington still have in-person voting as an option during early voting and on election day.
• Any in-person voting must be conducted in such a manner that voters, poll workers, and election administrators are kept safe and healthy by following the most recent CDC sanitary and mass gathering protocols. We recognize there may come a point when in-person voting must be significantly modified due to COVID-19.