Dinowitz seeks absentee ballot reform
Lawmaker asks for return postage on ballots to making voting easier
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Bronx Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz and Senator
James Sanders of south
Queens want to make an already
diffi cult election just
a tad easier and cheaper
for voters.
Last week, the two lawmakers
revealed their proposal
to have absentee ballots
include return postage
stamps to combat a “de facto
poll tax” that comes with
mailing in ballots.
“It is our jobs as stewards
of democracy to ensure that
there are as few barriers to
voting as possible. Requiring
postage to return an absentee
ballot is tantamount to
a poll tax, both with respect
to the actual cost of postage
as well as the logistical hurdle
of purchasing a stamp,”
Dinowitz said.
This bill, which was introduced
by Dinowitz in 2015, is
a simple one; it would only require
the NYC Board of Elections
to provide a return postage
guaranteed envelope with
Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz, Senator James Sanders and other voting advocates and professionals advocate
for return postage included with absentee ballots. Screenshot via Zoom
absentee ballots, similar to
an executive order issued by
Governor Andrew Cuomo for
the June 23 primary election.
But the lawmakers pointed
out that no such order was
implemented for the Nov. 3
general election.
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It is especially prominent
now as political sources
claimed a signifi cant amount
of voters chose to vote by absentee
ballot due to concerns
about the risk of COVID-19,
despite long early voting lines
across the city.
“In this diffi cult time as
we continue to battle coronavirus,
it is absolutely necessary
that we make voting
and participating in the
democratic process as easy
and safe as possible, and
that includes fi ne tuning
voting by absentee ballot,”
Sanders said.
According to Dinowitz’s
offi ce, as voters began receiving
absentee ballots for the
Nov. 3 general election, many
of them expressed confusion
about whether they needed to
pay for postage, and if so, how
much was necessary.
“I am proud to have carried
this bill for a number of
years and am hopeful that
we are able to get it passed as
soon as possible so it can be in
effect before New York State
amends our constitution to
allow no-excuse absentee voting
in 2022,” Dinowitz said.
Read more: bxtimes.com.
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