Story after story on TV and online talks about early voting in states from Alaska to Florida. But not here in New York.
In New York State, voters can cast absentee ballots ahead of the election if they meet a certain number of guidelines — primarily that they will be unable to cast a ballot in person on Election Day. But what most consider “early voting,” is not allowed here.
New York likes to herald itself as being a trend setter, but if early voting is the trend, we’re definitely behind the times. Thirty-three states allow voters to cast early ballots in person with no excuse. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia allow no-excuse early voting by mail.
Early voting is certainly a growing trend. The first time a Clinton ran for president, seven percent of Americans voting before election day. In 2012, that number was 31.6. This year it’s expected that number will be approximately 40 percent.
So why not here? It depends on who you ask.
Erie County Democratic Election Commission Len Lenihan says he believes the Republicans in the State Senate don’t want to give Democrats in an already blue state an even greater advantage.
Voting records of New York legislators seem to support Lenihan. The Democrat-held Assembly has passed bills supporting early voting. Democrats in the State Senate have introduced similar bills. But they have failed to get out of committee in the Republican-led chamber.
“My feeling is we should make voting as convenient as possible to the voting public,” Lenihan said, adding that his office attempts to make voting as easy as possible “within the constraints of the law.”
That means offering absentee ballots to those who won’t be able to vote on election day for one reason or another. “We’ve already sent out over 21,000 absentees this year,” he said. Approximately one-third of absentee ballots go to those who are confined at home or in a nursing home. Others are simply traveling.
Ballots can be dropped off at the Board of Elections or mailed — so long as they’re postmarked by the day before the election, in this case, Nov. 7. They can also be dropped off at a polling place on Election Day.
Monroe County Republican Election Commissioner David Van Varick said, “I really can’t give a good answer to you on why we don’t do it.” But Van Varick did offer some of the possible reasons legislators are opposed to it.
“I think one of the concerns is that it’s so volatile that for people voting two weeks before the election, who knows what could happen,” he said. Also, “If we had early voting, it would increase the costs of elections.”
Monroe County already has 3,000 paid poll workers on election day. Early voting wouldn’t change that. But it would require additional staffing. “So it does have a financial impact, as well.”
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