The state will mail absentee ballot applications to all New Yorkers, under an executive order announced by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today.
[UPDATE — This information was made moot when the state Board of Elections announced Monday that the state’s presidential primary was cancelled.]
The initiative was announced as the governor reported state revenues are estimated to decline by $13.3 billion, a drop of 14 percent, from the budget forecast. Due to COVID-19, a shortfall of $61 billion is expected during the planning period of fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2024, he said.
[See more about the state’s fiscal projections in this Gazette post]
Absentee ballot applications
Previously, the governor had said anyone who wanted to vote in the June 23 primary could do so by absentee ballot by claiming illness as a reason for not being able to vote in person.
Under the order announced today, every New Yorker will receive a ballot application in the mail, along with a postage paid return envelope. The goal is to reduce the number of people showing up to vote in person on primary day, June 23.
The governor said another 8,130 cases of novel coronavirus were reported, bringing the statewide total to 271,590 confirmed cases.
“We’re making great progress to flatten the curve and decrease the spread of infection, but we don’t know when this pandemic will end and we can’t put democracy on hold,” Cuomo said.
The absentee ballot measure is intended, he said, to ensure that “no New Yorker should have to choose between their health and their right to vote.”
Voting by absentee ballot is a two-step process. When you receive your absentee ballot application, you must fill it out completely (checking illness as the reason you can’t vote in person) and mail it back to the Board of Elections.
When you receive the actual ballot in the mail, you must fill it out entirely and mail it back (or hand deliver) to the BOE by the posted deadline.
