State Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk had to wait more than two months after the polls closed to be declared the winner in last year’s elections, and now she is proposing legislation aimed at preventing lengthy court battles and what she argues is the disenfranchisement of voters.
Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, unveiled two bills she is sponsoring during a news conference on Wednesday, May 1, which address legal challenges raised by her Republican opponent George Amedore’s legal team. The first bill would eliminate the requirement for voters to include their previous address when completing an affidavit ballot and would stipulate the ballot must be counted if the voter is in “substantial compliance” with voting regulations. Another bill would remove the two-week restriction for ballots given to election inspectors.
“These are two bills that are very simple,” Tkaczyk said. “To me, they are no brainers.”
Tkaczyk said she was “appalled” to see election laws being used to “disenfranchise” voters. Drafting changes to election laws became a priority once elected, she said.
“When I ran for the 46th Senate District, I knew I was facing an uphill battle. … I knew it would be challenging,” Tkaczyk said. “I thought it would be over though on Nov. 6 … I had no idea that it would take two-and-a-half months and a tumultuous up-and-down process before I finally got seated and sent to the Senate.”
The race for the newly drawn 46th Senate District was first ruled as a victory for Amedore, but Tkaczyk’s attorneys appealed a judge’s decision. The state Supreme Court Third Judicial Department’s Appellate Division ordered the counting of around 100 disputed ballots, which ended with Tkaczyk defeating Amedore by fewer than 20 votes.
“These were two of the issues that we fought over in the court,” Tkaczyk said. “In my race, democracy stumbled but justice prevailed.”
Democrat Kevin Cahill of Ulster County is sponsoring the two bills in the Assembly and said it’s time to revise election laws. He said lawyers battling in court shouldn’t be necessary “to make democracy happen.”
“In the case of Ulster County … ballots were challenged for poll workers,” Cahill said, “not because the poll workers did anything they were told not to do by authorities but because of the hyper-technicality of New York state law.”
Election inspectors are given a special ballot that cannot be distributed more than two weeks before the election. Several election inspectors had their ballots initially thrown out because they were submitted more than two weeks before Election Day.
Ashley Dittus, an Ulster County Board of Elections employee, said she was “shocked” to discover her ballot was disqualified because she submitted it early.
“I was given my ballot about a month before the election and I already knew who I wanted to vote for, so I voted the same day,” Dittus said. “Even though I work at the Board of Elections I wasn’t privy to this very minute provision.”
Dittus said her ballot was counted after the Appellate Court overturned the initial ruling.
Tkaczyk said though her legal challenges are now case law, her bills are still necessary. She is optimistic they will become law. There are 20 co-sponsors of the legislation in the Senate.
There are several others bills sponsored by Tkaczyk targeting various election laws, though she did not discuss them Wednesday.
One bill would require local Boards of Elections to notify voters when their ballot is received and if it was accepted or rejected. A rejection would have to be explained and an opportunity given to correct the ballot.
Other proposals would change annual report requirements for Boards of Elections, allowing poll clerks to work a half-day shift, providing an amount of affidavit ballots totaling at least 15 percent of the last voter turnout for the polling site and providing an adequate number of pens at each site.