Times Union: “... we don’t agree with opening ballots weeks before election day, which could reduce public scrutiny of the process, and risks signaling prematurely how an election is going. Nor do we agree with making it easier for political operatives of any persuasion to manipulate the absentee ballot process. People put things in the mail, and order all sorts of things on line, with no assistance from anyone. What, we have to wonder, is so unusual about absentee ballots that they need the help of some party official or volunteer to request? In cases of a severe disability that makes filing a ballot request impossible, special procedures can surely be carved out.
"Making it easier for corrupt players to further corrupt our election system hardly seems like a way to cool the suspicions that some politicians have stoked for their own ends. Lawmakers should put the time and energy it takes to pass legislation into the truly important things — like ensuring an accurate, timely post-election count, and protecting every citizen’s right to vote.”
https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Editorial-Get-absentee-ballots-right-16778840.php
Editorial: Get absentee ballots right
Times Union Editorial Board Jan. 16, 2022
Yes, our national discourse has been consumed with an incendiary lie about a stolen presidential election that’s become a mass delusion — and New York politics are hardly immune to it.
But that doesn’t mean the nation’s or the state’s voting systems are perfect. Quite the contrary. We’ve seen right here in the Capital Region how bad actors will take advantage of any weakness they can.
While those shenanigans may make no real difference in the outcome of elections — they certainly didn’t in the 2020 presidential race — there is no reason not to keep trying to establish a more perfect election system. In doing so, lawmakers might put to rest some of the concerns people have.
Here’s a modest place to start: Clean up the absentee ballot process.
Absentee ballots were in the spotlight last week when the two Republican members of the state Board of Elections criticized several bills signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. One allows people to apply for an absentee ballot without the signature of the voter who will receive it. The other requires local elections boards to open absentee ballots at least 40 days before the election and to continue opening them until 17 days after an election.
There are arguable reasons for these bills. The first would potentially make it easier for people to obtain absentee ballots, the second would help end the slow counting of ballots that can delay the outcome for days.
But there are legitimate concerns, too, especially with having people, often political operatives, handling people’s ballots. We saw years ago how Democrats in Albany County preyed on elderly people who in some cases had no recollection of voting. And State Police are investigating allegations of absentee ballot fraud by Republicans in Rensselaer County.
We support making mail-in balloting widely available rather than limited to voters who are out of their home county or ill at the time of an election. Too bad voters rejected allowing universal mail-in balloting in the state constitution, a change worth trying for again. We also agree with the goal of having election results posted in a timely fashion.
But we don’t agree with opening ballots weeks before election day, which could reduce public scrutiny of the process, and risks signaling prematurely how an election is going. Nor do we agree with making it easier for political operatives of any persuasion to manipulate the absentee ballot process. People put things in the mail, and order all sorts of things on line, with no assistance from anyone. What, we have to wonder, is so unusual about absentee ballots that they need the help of some party official or volunteer to request? In cases of a severe disability that makes filing a ballot request impossible, special procedures can surely be carved out.
Making it easier for corrupt players to further corrupt our election system hardly seems like a way to cool the suspicions that some politicians have stoked for their own ends. Lawmakers should put the time and energy it takes to pass legislation into the truly important things — like ensuring an accurate, timely post-election count, and protecting every citizen’s right to vote.