Cuomo Extends School Board, Budget Voting; Primary Ballots Affected
Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order Sunday afternoon that will allow voters participating in this year’s Board of Education election and budget votes an extra week to submit their paper ballots.
Cuomo signed the order that extends the time period for the ballots to arrive by mail at each district clerk’s office to Tuesday, June 16 at 5 p.m. However, voters turning in their ballots in person still have only until this Tuesday, June 9 at 5 p.m. to do that.
The order also permits absentee ballots for the June 23 primaries to only be postmarked by that date. Previously, the ballots had to be received by the Board of Elections office in each county by the end of the business day on June 23.
A reduced number of in-person polling sites for the primary is also expected to be released for each municipality by county Boards of Elections sometime this week.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world, and while we are making great progress and the numbers keep going down, no New Yorker should have to choose between their health and their right to vote,” Cuomo said in a statement released by his office.
The school board and budget votes were of immediate concern during the past week. Voters across the state were lodging complaints with school district offices that they had not received the ballots or that their ballots had arrived during the latter portion of last week and feared there would not be enough to put mail them and ensure they would arrive on time.
In northern Westchester and Putnam counties, the biggest issue occurred in the Mahopac and Brewster school districts. Early last week no resident had received a ballot because those two districts were among the 50 statewide that had contracted with NTS Data Services near Buffalo to print and send the ballots to registered voters. The company had run out of envelopes for about 30 of those districts, said state Sen. Peter Harckham (D-Lewisboro).
Mahopac and Brewster school officials reached out to Harckham to request more time so their residents could receive ballots and have a fair opportunity to vote. There also had been delays in sending out the ballots in the Bedford School District and some voters in the Lakeland School District and in districts in southern Westchester also reported delays.
Harckham, who introduced a bill last Tuesday extending the deadline for voting in the school elections to June 16 in the event that Cuomo did not issue a new or revised executive order, said he was pleased with the governor’s action on Sunday. Any legislation would have likely gone down to the wire on Monday with the risk of it not being approved in time.
“Gov. Cuomo’s decision to allow this extension on the receipt of school ballots gives voters ample time, as my bill sought to do as well, to ensure that their votes will count,” said Harckham.
The order negates the need for the senator’s legislation to proceed.
Along with statewide school district board elections and budget votes, there are some public libraries that are affiliated with school districts that have their board and budget votes on the same ballot. Cuomo’s executive order applies to those elections and votes and any school-related referendums that appear on the ballot.
Early on in the COVID-19 crisis, Cuomo postponed the Mar. 18 village elections, the Apr. 28 presidential primary and the May 19 statewide school board and budget votes. The village elections have been rescheduled for Sept. 15.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/