A controversial New York state election reform bill is coming up for a vote Monday.
Critics call it a naked attempt to keep U.N. ambassador-nominee Elise Stefanik’s North Country congressional district without a representative until November, while Democratic sponsors say it will save local and taxpayer resources.
The bill, which would allow Gov. Kathy Hochul to postpone elections or combine them with upcoming general elections, was marketed by Democrats as a cost-saving measure that helps ensure more voters will cast ballots in specials.
However, New York Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt said that for all Democrats’ claims about President Donald Trump being a threat to democracy, the truth is belied in their own legislation.
“It’s all about the outcome, not process, democracy, voter participation – they could give a s—. They could give a s—,” said Ortt, R-Niagara Falls.
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“I can’t shame them; they have none… 800,000 folks [in Stefanik’s soon-to-be-former district] will not have a representative in Congress ‘til November. That’s a disgrace for a party that says it cares about democracy,” he said, predicting Hochul will use the law to its maximum extent when enacted.
Ortt said the bill has two different provisions – one for federal elections and one for state legislative elections and ruminated how they could benefit Democrats.
He pointed out that state Sen. Simcha Felder, D-Brooklyn, is likely to seek an open seat on New York City Council in the politically-moderate, majority-Jewish Borough Park area.
Felder caucused with Senate Republicans from 2013-2018, which gave the GOP a slim, technical majority in Albany for part of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s term.
Ortt said Democrats stand to potentially lose Felder’s Senate seat, which explains the reported two-tiered changes in the bill.
Meanwhile, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said 44% of New York state voted for Trump and the legislation shows his opposition is still smarting about it.
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Senate GOP Leader Rob Ortt (Reuters)
“No, they don’t accept that result,” said Barclay, R-Oswego.
“So they’re going to do everything they can, including depriving 800,000 people of a say in the budget [or] the SALT (tax deduction for high-taxed states) bill.”
Barclay noted that if Stefanik’s seat remains vacant when the Farm Bill is voted on later this year, a significant portion of New York’s agricultural lands will lack representation.
But Democrats remained united, with Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins saying in a statement that New Yorkers currently face “unprecedented challenges, including the strain on our democracy and our high cost of living.”
“[T]his legislation is a common-sense approach that saves taxpayer dollars while maximizing voter turnout,” said Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers.
Currently, Hochul has 90 days to call a special election once Stefanik, or Felder, resigns.
The bill’s text suggested the current special elections framework in Albany is an operational and financial drag on counties and taxpayers – additionally citing “voter confusion and fatigue.”
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Therefore, giving the governor the power to potentially consolidate elections is pertinent.
As NY1 reported, the bill also does not mandate Hochul – or any governor – combine special and general or primary elections, but now gives her the power to do so.
Some in Stefanik’s district, however, believe Ortt’s claims may have substance.
“By holding up a special election, they’re keeping the North Country from having congressional representation at a critical moment,” state Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, told Plattsburgh’s NBC affiliate.
Stec is one of several Republicans vying for the seat, along with Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino, Assemblyman Chris Tague of Schoharie, and author Liz Joy, who previously ran against Democratic Rep. Paul Tonko in the neighboring Capital Region district.
A spokesman for Stewart-Cousins told NY1 that state Democrats will not “be lectured to by a party that openly celebrated the release of violent felons that attempted to overthrow a presidential election and have opposed every single voting reform that increases voter participation.”
