Fear of contracting COVID-19 is now a legally legitimate excuse for New Yorkers to cast mail-in ballots in the upcoming general election, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo signing the legislation Thursday.
Cuomo signed three pieces of legislation into law designed to make it easier for Empire State residents to vote and have their ballots counted in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Under the election reforms, all voters can get an absentee ballot due to risk or fear of contracting COVID-19 and voters can request absentee ballots to be submitted to the Board of Elections immediately.
The legislation also allows for all absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day or received by the Board of Elections without a postmark on the day after the election to be counted.
Ballots with a postmark showing that they were mailed on or before Election Day will be counted if they were received by Nov. 10 under the legislation.
“The federal administration has ordered an unprecedented attack on the US Postal Service and with COVID-19 threatening our ability to have safe, in-person voting, these measures are critical to ensuring a successful and fair election at one of the most important moments in our nation’s history,” Cuomo said.
The three-term Democratic governor added, “These actions will further break down barriers to democracy and will make it easier for all New Yorkers to exercise their right to vote this November.”
Polling sites across New York will be open for voters to cast their ballots in person on Election Day, according to Cuomo.
Voters seeking to use absentee ballots should complete and return an application for an absentee ballot “as soon as possible,” state Board of Elections spokeswoman Cheryl Couser said.
While voters can apply for an absentee ballot up to seven days before the election, the BOE “would like voters to be aware that the Post Office has advised they cannot guarantee delivery of ballots applied for less than 15 days before an election,” Couser said.
June’s primary elections proved disastrous after it was revealed earlier this month that a staggering 25 percent of mail-in ballots cast in Brooklyn were declared invalid.
More than 120,000 absentee ballots were filed in Kings County for the June 23 primary, but about 30,000 were initially disqualified due to reasons like a lack of postmark or late arrival, officials have said. Much of that was attributed to the state providing postage-paid mailers for residents, which meant they were not postmarked by the USPS.