New York Governor Kathy Hochul extended the state’s use of universal mail-in voting through the entirety of the year 2022, citing COVID-19 as the reason for keeping the fraud-riddled voting method in place.
Governor Hochul signed Legislation (S.7565-B/A.8432-A) which “permits voting by absentee ballot where there is a risk contracting or spreading disease that may cause illness to the voter or other members of the public.”
The legislation continues a previous policy inaugurated in July of 2020, which expired at the end of 2021, that allowed all New Yorkers to request mail-in ballots.
The move, which will impact the nation’s 2022 midterm elections, follows the state granting 800,000 noncitizens the right to vote in U.S. elections. It also follows mail-in voting, which has been described by the Associated Press as prone to “high-profile errors,” being widely adopted by states for the 2020 election.
States’ heavy reliance on mail-in voting appeared to allow for massive irregularities and fraud that impacted the outcome of the election. In some states, entire elections have been overturned due to massive numbers of fraudulent ballots.
“This legislation will ensure the pandemic does not create inaccessibility for voters during upcoming elections and help protect New Yorkers’ access to the ballot,” remarked former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s replacement. “No one should have to choose between exercising their right to vote and protecting their health and safety.”
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Alessandra Biaggi, reiterated that “the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we work, learn, and live— teaching us to adapt to in ways that we had never imagined before. We cannot allow the ongoing pandemic to undermine our democracy and interfere with New Yorkers’ right to vote, and must similarly adapt to prioritize public health while protecting our democracy.”
As outlined in her 2022 State of the State, Governor Hochul also seeks to adopt “a state-level voting rights act to protect against voter suppression” to support “improving language access for voters, lowering the voter registration deadline from 25 days to 10 days before Election Day, and requiring polling locations on college campuses.”
