3 things New York State can do to fix what happened in NY-22 By Luke Perry
The new Congress began without representation from NY-22, thanks to a prolonged legal process seeking to ensure all ballots are counted properly, which should ultimately help determine a winner. Here are three things the New York State Legislature can do to help prevent this from happening again.
1. Permit the processing and counting of ballots prior to Election Day
Most states allow the processing and/or counting of early voting ballots. Procedures vary per state, particularly in regards to timing. New York should allow ballots to be processed and counted before the election, and publicly release all vote totals the morning after Election Day.
There is no sound reason for the one week waiting period before absentee ballots are counted, which creates a major problem in close elections with high absentee voting, as we saw this cycle in NY-22. All ballots have to be postmarked by Election Day, so this would not negatively impact turnout.
Image from NY state board of elections
2. Have the state board of elections develop a digestible statement of basic rules and best practices for electoral administration
Election commissioners and their full-time staff typically have limited experience and familiarity with law, particularly electoral law. This is problematic when New York State’s electoral law spanned 798 pages in 2020.
Having the state board of elections publish a document that distills the most essential and practically important elements of electoral law would establish a baseline of knowledge throughout the state and increase standardization of electoral administration. This could, for instance, include a section about how to properly mark challenged ballots, addressing the “sticky-note” and “spreadsheet” problems in NY-22.
Photo from WKTV
3. Increase eligibility requirements for county election commissioners and/or their full-time staff
The only state requirement to work in this capacity is being a party member and county resident. This is clearly insufficient to produce the caliber of local government employees necessary to consistently administer elections effectively. All or some should be transitioned into civil service positions. For instance, election commissioners could remain political appointees, a tradition that may be particularly hard to change, with their immediate staff becoming civil servants.
Local election officials come to their jobs through party patronage, often with limited qualifications, and experience high turnover, particularly in recent years. The state needs a better system of recruiting, selecting, and sustaining competent employees with necessary skills and attributes.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Political Science at Utica College
