New Yorkers tend to feel secure in our blue bubble. We’ve watched federal agents use false allegations to seize ballots in Georgia and Arizona, a ballot seizure by a Republican running for governor in California, and an FBI review of Nevada voter rolls. We’ve heard Steve Bannon say ICE agents in airports is a good “test run” for the midterms.
So how safe are we? And why hasn’t the New York Legislature done even more to ensure our election integrity?
As you read this, a dozen bills to protect our elections are languishing in committees, and too many legislators are putting their trust in new voting machines’ high tech. All this despite the sale of Dominion Voting Systems, used in some counties, to Liberty Vote, which is run by a former GOP election official who described the sale as a “bold and historic move to transform and improve election integrity in America.”
Other counties — Monroe and Suffolk — have purchased the Election Systems and Software XL machines, whose ownership is sheathed in silence and whose touchscreen technology has been criticized by cybersecurity experts for years. Taxpayers’ expense for these machines could run into many millions, yet more counties are beguiled by the technology.
Plus, since 2025 the Trump administration has laid off a majority of employees at the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA), responsible for helping state election officials block internet attackers domestically and worldwide from influencing our elections.
Chilling, right?
Sadly, New Yorker voters are unaware they can affect change and move crucial bills on election protections out of committee and into the Legislature for a vote. Legislators do respond if there’s enough pressure from voters.
Here are some specifics to help navigate this dilemma.
The gold standard for election integrity is having ballots hand-marked by the voter. Only hand-marked paper ballots are genuinely voter-verified. As Susan Lerner, executive director with Common Cause NY has warned, “Although it seems counter-intuitive, actually, the most advanced and secure way to vote is for voters to be able to mark paper.”
New Yorkers have potential solutions, starting with the Voting Integrity and Verification Act (VIVA NY), which protects our right to mark paper ballots by hand (bills A6287 and A9314, which bans DRE voting machines).
Another bill is intended to deter frivolous challenges to a person’s right to vote and protect against efforts to illegally disqualify or purge voters (A6354 and S3233A).
Other crucial issues have arisen, such as, what is a close vote and when is a recount required? There are bills for that, the Count Every Vote Act (CEVA), A4307 and S417, clarifying the definition of a margin of victory required for a recount. Passed in the Senate, it is now stuck in the Assembly committee.
And how long can a polling site remain open? Still fuzzy in N.Y. should there be a disruption at a polling site (in 2025, voting at seven New Jersey polling places were delayed by bomb threats). Bills A5846A and S4602A can save us the aggravation on Nov. 3 should disruptions occur.
Many of the above and other bills awaiting passage have been prioritized by groups like the NAACP New York State Conference, the LetNYVote Coalition, Common Cause NY, and the Sierra Club Atlantic Division.
Why wait to bemoan the shortcomings and loopholes in our system when it’s too late to make the repairs? Call your Albany representatives and let them know you are not sleepwalking through the election miasma. You want a voice. Get these election integrity bills to a vote.
Tashlik is a member of the Election Committee for NYCD 16/15 Indivisible.