Dinowitz introduces extension for pandemic absentee voting
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
The Nov. 2 statewide ballot
proposal to allow no-excuse absentee
voting didn’t pass, but
that hasn’t stopped state Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz,
who is trying to expand eligibility
as the pandemic continues.
A temporary measure allowing
voters in New York to
cite the pandemic as a reason to
vote absentee will expire Jan.
1, 2022. The bill passed July
22-23, 2020, and was sponsored
by Dinowitz, a Democrat, in
the Assembly and Progressive
state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in
the Senate.
Normally, in order to vote
by mail, New Yorkers must be
unable to appear at the polls
because they are absent from
their county or have an illness
or physical disability. The
near-expiring law expanded
the defi nition of “illness” to include
instances where a voter
cannot appear in person because
of a risk of contracting
or spreading a communicable
disease.
The Nov. 2 ballot proposition,
if passed, would have
changed the law to allow voters
throughout the state to mail in
their ballots without an excuse.
The expanded pandemic-related
eligibility was set to expire
and align with no-excuse
voting being implemented following
the general election
proposition, according to Dinowitz’s
offi ce. But now that
the measure failed, “leaving
voters who would prefer to cast
their ballots from the safety of
their own homes to weigh the
importance of their health and
their vote,” the state lawmaker
is introducing a bill that would
extend the expanded eligibility
through Feb. 1, 2024.
“My new legislation is a
critical measure so that no
New Yorker is forced to put
their own health at risk simply
to cast a ballot, and I urge
my colleagues to support this
important measure when we
return to Albany in January,”
Dinowitz said.
A statement from Dinowitz’s
offi ce said that if the legislation
passes then lawmakers
and voters, from 2022-2024, can
decide whether to revisit a constitutional
amendment about
absentee voting.
Mail-in voting without a
reason is allowed in most states
in the U.S.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 24 OV. 19-25, 2021 BTR
In addition to 29 states and
Washington, D.C. that allow
no-excuse absentee voting, fi ve
states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon,
Utah and Washington —
conduct their elections fully
by mail, meaning all voters receive
a mail-in ballot. For the
2020 elections, 27 states and
Washington, D.C. expanded access
to voting by mail because
of the pandemic.
But when casting their ballots
during this month’s general
election, New Yorkers decided
they weren’t interested.
Just 39% voted in favor of
the proposal, with 50% against
it and 11% of voters leaving the
question blank, according to
state election night results. In
the Bronx, 25% of voters decided
not to choose a side on the
issue, while 41.5% were in favor
of the amendment and 33%
were against it.
New York GOP Chairman
Nick Langworthy stopped in 40
counties in 10 days leading up
to Election Day for a “Just Say
No” campaign against no-excuse
absentee voting and other
failed ballot measures, which
kicked off in Staten Island and
stopped twice in Queens and
once in Brooklyn.
Langworthy told the Bronx
Times that Dinowitz’s proposed
extension is “absolutely
absurd,” and a “grasp
at straws” that tries to use the
pandemic to skew things in favor
for Democrats.
“It was one thing when we
had an extraordinary circumstance,”
Langworthy said. “We
don’t anymore. We are largely
reopen and we need to get back
to normal.”
Dinowtiz’s offi ce said the
effort is motivated by “a stubborn
COVID-19 pandemic that
has still not been resolved after
twenty months, as positive test
results have hovered at several
thousand new cases per day
in New York State for the past
three months.”
As of Nov. 16, 2,102 people
are hospitalized with COVID
19 in New York State.
The proposed legislation,
which has been fi led in Assembly,
doesn’t have a bill number
or Senate co-sponsor yet.
Biaggi did not respond to a
request for comment by press
time.
State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz wants to extend a pandemic-related
absentee ballot eligibility expansion. Photo courtesy Getty Images