Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to sign into law legislation that will dramatically expand voting access by allowing any registered voter to cast an early ballot by mail, according to multiple people directly familiar with the plans.
Hochul, who will be flanked by lawmakers and voting rights experts, is expected to hold a bill signing on Wednesday morning in Manhattan, according to four people who spoke with Gothamist on background but were not authorized to publicly discuss the event. The governor’s office declined to comment in advance of the event.
The anticipated new law would allow all registered voters to request an early mail voting ballot from their local board of elections. It also requires the BOE to establish and maintain an online system where voters can apply for and track their early voting ballot applications, similar to the system already in place for voters to request an absentee ballot. Voters would then need to submit those early mail voting ballots before the polls close on Election Day.
“New York must be a lifejacket for democracy and combat the national tide and demonstrate free, fair, elections with ease of participation,” according to the sponsor memo from state Sen. Michael Gianaris, the deputy majority leader. “This legislation intends to make New York state a leader in engaging the electorate, meeting voters where they are and opening up greater opportunities for people to have their choices made on the ballot.”
In the Assembly, the bill was sponsored by Assembly Member Karines Reyes, who represents parts of the Bronx and is a registered nurse.
The legislation passed both the Democratic-led Senate and Assembly in early June just as lawmakers were ending the 2023 legislative session. Once it is signed by the governor, it will take effect on January 1, 2024 and will be used for all special, primary and general elections going forward.
Up to now, the only way for a voter to cast a ballot by mail was through the state’s absentee ballot system. Starting in 2020, lawmakers made a series of temporary changes to allow voters to more easily access absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those provisions sunset at the end of last year.
In 2021, voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have altered the rules for when a voter can request an absentee ballot, setting up a “no-excuse” absentee ballot system. The constitutional amendment failed after a well-funded campaign led by the state Republican and Conservative parties drove turnout in precincts outside of New York City.
But supporters of early voting by mail are quick to note that this law does not require a constitutional change since it does not alter the rules for accessing an absentee ballot.
“The New York Legislature has broad authority to provide options for voters on how to vote,” said Kathy Boockvar, president of Athena Strategies and former secretary of state for Pennsylvania who oversaw the 2020 election and led the efforts to allow Pennsylvania voters to cast their ballots by mail. “And that is exactly what this [law] is doing.”
In an interview with Gothamist, Boockvar noted that, similar to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, the new measure in New York does not make any changes to the constitutional provision that governs absentee voting.
If recent history is any indication, a court fight over the new law is likely.
Last fall, a group of Republican candidates and elections officials challenged portions of the state’s absentee ballot law in state Supreme Court, arguing against a provision that would expedite how ballots are canvassed and prepared for counting. Ultimately, a state appeals court panel ruled that the petitioners brought their lawsuit too close to the actual election.
At the time, observers saw the lawsuit as a sign that New York Republicans were adopting a similar playbook as former President Donald Trump, who used the courts to challenge election results and election laws leading up to and in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
A similar group of plaintiffs, including the state Republican and Conservative parties, filed another lawsuit objecting to the expedited absentee canvassing law in state Supreme Court in Saratoga County. A hearing in that case is also scheduled for Wednesday morning.
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