NY Judges Question GOP Arguments Against Mail-In Ballot Review

Republicans struggled to justify to judges on New York’s highest court Tuesday that a state law permitting the counting of questionable mail-in ballots is unconstitutional because it gives the upper hand to one political party.

The case centers on Republicans’ challenge to a portion of the state’s election law that allows local election boards to consider an absentee or mail-in ballot valid and count the vote, even when there is a split between Democratic and Republican representatives about whether the ballot envelope is valid.

Republicans say the provision, which was included among a slate of election law changes enacted in 2021, unconstitutionally allows election boards to make unilateral decisions on the validity of mail-in ballots and doesn’t allow the courts to adjudicate the issue. Attorneys also told the court Tuesday there’s a chance that “political operatives” could flag certain ballots for commissioners who could then deem them valid or invalid based on the votes inside.

Court of Appeals Associate Judges Jenny Rivera and Anthony Cannataro questioned during oral arguments how the ballot-counting law is partisan if it applies to both parties.



https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/ny-judges-question-gop-arguments-against-mail-in-ballot-review