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By: Chase Smith
A New York State appellate court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of the state’s universal Early Mail Voter Act, cementing the state’s move toward expanded universal mail-in voting.
The court’s ruling comes after a contentious legal battle led by appellants including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Nicholas Langworthy (R-N.Y.), and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) against Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state’s Board of Elections.
The lawmakers joined several other GOP elected officials, voters, and the party’s state and national committees in the original suit seeking to overturn the law on the day it was signed into law by Ms. Hochul last year. A lower court ruled the law was constitutional in February, and Ms. Stefanik appealed the decision.
The appellants argued that the universal mail-in voting provisions of the act violated the New York Constitution, specifically targeting what they claimed was an improper expansion of absentee voting without a constitutional amendment.
The appellate court found that the state’s Legislature had the authority to expand voting methods, including mail-in voting, without needing a constitutional amendment.
“We conclude that universal mail-in voting does not violate article II of the NY Constitution and was properly implemented through legislative enactment,” the Court order stated. “We recognize that a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize no-excuse absentee voting was not ratified by the electorate at the November 2, 2021 election. Even so, that the Legislature, in first proposing the amendment in 2019, may have assumed that a constitutional amendment was necessary to implement universal mail-in voting does not make it so.”
The New York Early Mail Voter Act, enacted in 2023 and effective as of Jan. 1, 2024, allows all registered voters to apply for early mail-in voting for any election in which they are eligible.
This law was introduced to enhance voter participation and streamline the voting process across the state, according to Democrats.
Key features of the act include a requirement for applications to be received by local Boards of Elections at least ten days before the election, confirmation of voter eligibility, and the provision of postage-paid return envelopes for ballots.
Under New York state’s constitution, absentee voting is accepted only in the event of illness, being out of the state for a definable reason, or military service overseas.
Republicans argued that the people of New York voted against expanding absentee voting when the proposed amendment “Authorizing No-Excuse Absentee Ballot Voting” was presented as a ballot initiative in 2021. It was rejected by 55 percent of voters.
RNC lawyers argued in briefs that allowing unrestricted early voting forces the GOP to spend additional time, money, and manpower to adjust to a new electoral scheme that greatly differs from the past in-person voting model.
“For the national organizations, that means fewer resources to fulfill their missions in other states,” wrote attorney Michael Hawrylchak a Jan. 26 brief on behalf of Ms. Stefanik. “Moreover, the Mail-Voting Law will impose substantial new financial burdens on the county election boards the commissioner plaintiffs oversee, because it requires them to provide postage-paid return envelopes along with mail-in ballot applications.”
The court’s analysis focused on the interpretation of Article II of the New York Constitution, which outlines voter qualifications and the manner of voting.
The court’s opinion, written by Justice Michael Lynch, emphasized the historical evolution of absentee voting laws and the legislative authority granted by Article II, Section 7.
