A New York appeals court has rejected a Republican challenge to new electoral procedures in the state that begin to streamline some of the process of absentee voting. The challenge targeted pre-election processing of absentee ballots, which many other states already do and which could significantly help with finalizing results at a more efficient pace.
“The appeals court said Republican and Conservative party officials who challenged the law waited too long,” the Associated Press recaps. Also at issue was a provision allowing New York voters worried about the possibility of illness to participate in absentee voting, which the court also upheld. New York does not have no-excuse mail-in voting, under which any voter can cast an absentee or mail-in ballot. According to information collected by Ballotpedia, rules specifying absentee voting is only available to specified groups of voters, including those with disability, originate with the state Constitution, and last year, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed no-excuse mail-in voting went before New York voters — who voted it down. It’s worth noting turnout for the vote on the proposed amendment was far, far below New York’s turnout the prior year for the presidential race.
“In our view, granting petitioners the requested relief during an ongoing election would be extremely disruptive and profoundly destabilizing and prejudicial to candidates, voters and the State and local Boards of Elections,” the court concluded. Absentee voting, for those legally able to access it, is already underway in New York, as elsewhere in the country. The Associated Press reported that whether plaintiffs would appeal to a higher judicial authority was unclear. A lower-level judge in New York initially supported the Republican push against authorities processing absentee ballots before the election. (Processing is distinct from counting when handling mail-in ballots.) The underlying challenge was only brought in September — nine months after officials enacted a disputed law. “Where have you been?” Justice John Egan asked John Ciampoli, an attorney for the plaintiffs in court this week. “Here we are a week before the election. There’s a whole lot of absentee ballots that have been cast by now.”
The lower-level judge was concerned, at least in part, with protecting voters’ ostensible rights to challenge ballots. New York state Attorney General Letitia James was involved with defending the absentee ballot rules that these right-wing voices challenged. “We should be taking every step possible to empower voters and ease New Yorkers’ access to the polls,” James said. “I was proud to defend New York’s absentee ballot reforms, and am happy with the decision to keep these commonsense election integrity initiatives in place. As Attorney General, I will always fight against efforts to infringe on the right to vote and make it harder for New Yorkers to make their voices heard.” Also at issue in the lead-up to Election Day this year have been balloting rules like universal mail-in voting in Pennsylvania and a push for signature matching requirements for absentee votes in North Carolina. Signature matching is an imprecise process that could unfairly penalize disabled and elderly voters, among others.
