Every year the Democratic Caucus of the NYS Elections Commissioner Association identify a list of legislative and budget priorities to present to our legislative and executive leaders in New York to make better voter experience and make election administration better. We denote the current bill numbers, legislative status, and whether this is a shared goal of the GOP caucus of NYSECA or the NYS Board of Elections.

Give Boards of Elections the ability to properly serve the voters of New York.

• Four-year terms for all boards of elections commissioners. (S2050/A7289) PASSED SENATE
• Minimum staffing requirements set based on voter enrollment for full-time permanent employees for each Board of Election. (S843/A6069)
• Require all Commissioners in New York outside of the City of New York to be full time commissioners (S1087/A5056) PASSED SENATE
• Support Mandatory Training and certification for Commissioner and Deputies. (S1035/A1228) PASSED SENATE (NYSBOE support)
• Mandate County nominations for Commissioners occur no later than the party reorganization meeting or October 15^th in years where a reorganization meeting does not occur.

Since 2019, long awaited election reform has changed local Boards of Elections responsibilities without making the structural changes necessary for each county board to meet the needs of their voters. Making these changes will allow County Commissioners the ability to strategically plan and bring year-round full-time management to the Board of Elections in every county. We also support making training and certification for all Elections Commissioners and deputies to ensure professional operations of each Board of Elections. We also must ensure proper transitions when new Elections Commissioners are elected, so we should limit late calendar nominations that can cause chaos on the political calendar.

Invest in our election system by providing the following funding streams in the New York State Budget.

• Aid to localities funding of $10 million for distribution to County Board of Elections of unbudgeted expenses. (Bi-partisan support) SENATE ONE HOUSE $10 Million, ASSEMBLY ONE HOUSE 2.5 Million
• Properly fund the New York State Board of Elections and give the NYSBOE proper authority to promulgate regulations and enforce responsibilities outlined in state law. (NYSBOE support) (Bi-partisan support)  SENATE ONE HOUSE, ASSEMBLY ONE HOUSE, EXECUTIVE BUDGET ALL FULFILLS NYSBOE REQUEST

The cost of running elections is mainly the responsibility of county governments. With the added responsibilities that the NYS Legislature has required of Board of Elections we have rising costs due to increase staffing and equipment purchases.  Each county has different needs.  We believe a single annual Aid to locality grant replacing the various postage, equipment, and staffing grants is the best way for New York to meet is obligation to help county boards properly operate.  We also support the NYS Board of Elections in their budget request to meet the increased regulatory and functionality they are required to provide.

Provide flexibility for County Board of Election operations.

• Allow for flexibility for designating non-enrolled inspectors to serve as Republican or Democratic inspectors. (Bi-partisan support)
• Grant county Election Commissioners independence and flexibility with respect to determining hours of operation. (Bi-partisan support)
• Altering the highest municipality early voting law to lower the highest city threshold to at least 10,000 voters. (Bi-partisan support)
• NY State should participate in cross state matching programs to keep our voter rolls accurate (S1356/A3649A). PASSED SENATE

County Board of Elections need flexibility to meet the modern needs of the electorate.  Each individual county has different needs.  Allowing the county boards flexibility in designating election inspectors can help in rural and urban communities.  Boards of Elections often need to operate at different hours than their county hosts.  They also need flexibility in selecting Early Voting sites that are more suitable for their counties.  Finally joining ERIC will give Boards of Elections the tools we need to maintain our voter registration lists and provide accurate data.

Reform the Automatic Hand Count to work more efficiently.

• Reduce the threshold for triggering recounts in close elections to .25% and allow for alternative scan within the .25-50% range, while also reducing the minimum vote threshold to ten. (Bi-partisan support) (S3290/A1091)
• Exempt all party position contests from the manual hand count including judicial delegate and county committee contests. (NYSBOE support) (Bi-partisan support)
• Allow candidates with less votes to opt out of a hand count. (Bi-partisan support)

The automatic hand-count has been in place for several election cycles. We have learned that the precinct scanners are accurate. Lowering the threshold for the hand-count will allow the Board of Elections to only focus on the truly close races that have a chance of changing hands. We must also stipulate that the hand-count should only start after initial certification allowing boards to properly prepare and sort ballots for counting. Finally, we should exempt party positions from the hand count rule as these elections are routinely close but not close enough to switch winners and draw resources away from publicly held offices.  We can also give candidates with lesser votes the options to bypass the hand count if they don’t wish to participate.

Enhance our Ballot Access laws to provide protections for parties and to give access to candidates.

• Extend the General Election Post Primary drop off date until after the certification of the June Primary or last day to caucus for town races. (Bi-partisan support)
• Extend the enrollment change freeze window beyond the last day for caucus. (NYSBOE support) (Bi-partisan support)
• Protect Town Caucus from party raiding by requiring party authorization for candidates not enrolled in a party to receive designation.
• Allow county parties to have direct ballot access with their nomination process outside of NYC (Bi-partisan support)  (S7401/A583)
• Encourage legislation denoting that all public offices within the state of New York be referred to in gender neutral terms on Primary and General election ballots. (Bi-partisan support)

Our ballot access laws need modern protections and adjustments to ensure competitive and free elections.  Over the last few cycles, we have seen an increase in those wanting to exploit some weaknesses in some ballot access functions to steal party lines.  We urge the legislature to close these loopholes by extending the party change deadline until after the last day of caucus and to protect caucus from party raiding in the same way we do other ballot access methods. With the new calendar that pushes petitioning earlier we urge the legislature to give county parties the ability to have direct ballot access in the same way state parties have.  Lastly, we encourage the legislature to pass legislation to refer to all elected offices in New York gender neutral terms.

Enhance and invest in our Vote by Mail options

• Design a uniform paper and online application and oath envelope for all Vote by Mail options in New York including military and overseas voters.
• Allow County Board of Elections the option to continue to scan vote by mail ballots during the Early Voting Period (Bi-partisan support)
• Authorize the issuing of same-day absentee ballots in those instances when commissioners agree that health-related exigencies on or immediately prior to Election Day create hardship. (Bi-partisan support) (NYSBOE support)

One of the fastest growing methods of voting in New York is vote by mail. We should build upon this success.  Voters should be presented with a uniform application for both Absentee and Vote by Mail so voters can [properly choose the method right for them.  We also want county Board of Elections to have an option to scan vote by mail ballots during the Early Voting period if the Board of elections has the resources to do so.  Finally, we would like the ability for Elections Commissioners to issue emergency same-day absentee ballots for health-related emergencies on election Day.

Emphasize the importance of Election Day, paper Ballots, and convenience of voters.

• Designation of Election Day as a non-attendance day for public school students. (Bi-partisan support) (A2041) (NYSBOE support) (Bi-partisan support)
• Support a Federal Holiday on Election Day (Bi-partisan support)
• Allow for Vote Centers on Election Day as well as Early Voting on a permissive basis. (Bi-partisan support) (S569/A6449) PASSED SENATE
• Enact a constitutional amendment requiring the use of paper ballots in New York State Elections (Bi-partisan support)

We also support steps to emphasize the importance of election Day.  We believe that Election Day should be designated a non-attendance day for schools which will free up HAVA compliant polling places.  We also support a Federal Holiday for Election Day to give voters the flexibility to not only vote but serve as election inspectors.  We also want to allow, on a permissive basis, county Board of Elections to implement vote centers on Election Day as we do for Early Voting.  Finally, we urge the NYS legislature to enact a constitutional amendment requiring the use of paper ballots in New York, which protects against fraud and allows for hand counts of close contests.

The Democratic caucus of NYS Elections Commissioners stand ready to assist any legislator willing to take up one of our priorities that does not yet have a bill number.  We also encourage legislators to co-sponsor the bills we have included in our priorities as well. If you have any questions or wish to meet on any of these proposals, please reach out to our Caucus Chair, Dustin Czarny, at dustinczarny@gmail.com or 315-383-4318.

(Bi-partisan support) Indicates a common goal with the NYS Elections Commissioner Association Overall Legislative Agenda as Approved by bi-partisan Elections Commissioners in January 2025.

(NYSBOE support) Indicates a common goal with the NYS Board of Elections as part of their Election law proposals.