New York was called Early on Election night for President-elect Joe Biden, but if the Empire State had been a Presidential Battleground, the Drama that gripped the Country for a few days might now be stretching into its Third Week.
There is No State Slower at Counting its Ballots and, despite Democratic Control of the State Government, New York remains home to some of the Country's most Byzantine Voting Laws and Procedures. Its painfully Slow and, in some Localities, oddly Staggered approach to Counting Votes means the Results of a Number of U.S. House and Key State Senate and Assembly Races remain unknown.
Some Races in New York City remain Undecided. The City's Board of Elections is notoriously Cumbersome and Disorganized. And the State's decision to Allow for Early and Expanded Absentee Voting put added Pressure on an already Strained Apparatus.
"This year's delays are another example of the BOE's incompetence," said New York City Comptroller, Scott Stringer (D). "What was an antiquated absentee ballot process morphed into broad mail-in voting. With more than one million New Yorkers voting by absentee ballot, the review after the return process created an enormous logjam."
As of, Wednesday Nov. 18th afternoon, had only reported 78% of its Estimated Vote Total.
This is the product of Chronic Underinvestment in Infrastructure that undermines Voter Confidence over times and, in the near-term, creates difficulties for Lawmakers, some of whom still don't know their fate, as the New Legislative Session nears amid a Worsening Coronavirus Pandemic.
In an effort to Improve the Voting Process, New York's Legislature instituted a Process for Curing Absentee Ballots that went into effect this Summer, following the Primaries. The State has also begun the Transition into Electronic Poll Books, which Streamline the Process of Tracking and Updating Voter Data, But the Technology is Not yet used Statewide.
In many States, Election Officials can start Counting Absentee Ballots before Election Day. In New York, Absentee Ballots Cannot be Counted before Polls Close. The reason for that is because New York Laws Prioritizes In-Person Ballots. New York State prefers you to Vote in person. They would prefer you Not to Vote Absentee.
In New York your In-Person-Vote is King. You could Mail or Drop-Off your Absentee Ballot, but still decide to Vote-in-Person, and they Throw the Absentee Ballot Out. As a Result, New York Law Forbids the Counting of Absentee Ballots until after Polls Close on Election Day. Even then the Timeline gets Complicated.
New York lets Local Counties dictate a lot of the Interpretation of State Election Law. The State Law on when they can Open and start Counting Absentee Ballots is real wishy-washy. According to State Law, the Counting must begin within 14 Days of Election Day. The Law also Requires Notification Five Days in Advance of Counting to ensure the Attendance of Election Observers.
It's this Law that's left up to Interpretation by County Officials. In some Cases, that Leads to a Eeek's Delay before the Envelopes are Opened. By the time they are, Partial Results are already in, meaning the Bipartisan County Election Commissioners, One Democrat and One Republican, know which Candidate is Ahead and can Choose to Object Ballots in an Effort to Help Preserve their Side's Lead.
Some argued that Counties don't have to Wait until Election Day to Notify Observers. though that is the Common Practice. There's nothing Stopping them from beginning the Count as soon as Polls Close. But some say there are some Good Reasons they typically Don't. The State has a 7-day Statutory Deadline within which it can continue to Receive Absentee Ballots Mailed by Election Day. To wait until that Date is Not unusual.
Additionally, in 2019 the State Legislature passed a Law enabling Voters whose Names are Not in a Polling Site's Ballot Book, or example, a Voter had Moved from elsewhere in the State and Not Registered under their New Address, they file an Affidavit Ballot".
While making it Easier for New Yorkers to Vote, the Law means that Affidavit Ballots must be Checked against All Other In-Person and Absentee Ballots to ensure No Voter casts more than One Vote, a Process that cannot begin until Polls Close.
Under an Executive Order to Expedite that Process this year, the County Boards had gotten their Affidavit Ballots to the State within 48 hours after Election Day, and the State had Completed its Check for Double Votes by the following Morning, Friday, November 6th.
Experts agree that coming to an Accurate Count of All Votes is and should be the Foremost Objective. But with the State's Certification Deadline of December 7th, a Slow Count puts added Pressure on Candidates who might seek to pursue Legitimate Court Challenges.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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