New York’s Highest Court Upholds Law Expanding Mail-in Voting, Rejects GOP Challenge
New York’s highest court today upheld the state’s newly enacted Early Mail Voter Act, rejecting claims that the law is unconstitutional and handing another setback to Republican opponents seeking to block the legislation.
The law, signed in September of 2023 by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), allows all registered voters to vote by mail during the early voting period. After its passage, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and other conservative plaintiffs sued on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional. Oral argument was held in the case in July.
The plaintiffs argued the law violates the New York Constitution because the constitution lists two classes of voters who can access absentee ballots, but now the new law applies to all voters who are outside those two groups.
In its ruling Tuesday, the New York Court of Appeals sided with the state, holding that the plaintiffs’ case against the law wasn’t strong enough to overcome the “strong presumption of constitutionality” afforded to the Legislature.
“It is a ‘well settled [rule] that [l]egislative enactments are entitled to a strong presumption of constitutionality … and courts strike them down only as a last unavoidable result,’” the opinion said, citing precedent.
In a statement, Hochul called the ruling a “significant victory for democracy,” and “another loss for those who seek to disenfranchise New Yorkers and undermine access to the ballot.”
New York Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement that the Court of Appeals “saw through Elise Stefanik’s and Republican’s efforts to keep people from voting.” Stefanik (R-N.Y.) was a plaintiff in the complaint.
“This law is not only constitutional but to the great benefit of New Yorkers,” he said. “I hope voters remember which party wants to facilitate their voting power and which one wants to deny it.”
Original post, July 26, 2024:
Oral argument will take place in the New York Court of Appeals next week in the ongoing Republican legal challenge to the state’s newly enacted Early Mail Voting Act.
The law — which allows all registered voters to vote by mail during the early voting period — already overcame legal hurdles in trial court and appellate court. But the outcome in the state’s highest court will ultimately decide if the law stands, or if New York legislators will have to amend the state’s constitution in order to allow early voting by mail — a lengthy, onerous process.
In September of 2023, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the New York Early Mail Voter Act after the state’s Legislature passed the bill in June — a move praised by voting rights advocates across the state. The law allows all registered voters to vote by mail during the state’s early voting period — before the law, voters could only vote absentee if they knew they would be absent from their county or New York City, or because of an illness or disability.
Immediately after Hochul signed the bill into law, the state’s GOP contingent promptly swooped in to challenge its constitutionality. The Republican National Committee (RNC), National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), New York Republican State Committee, Conservative Party of New York and several state GOP lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Elise Stefani, (R-N.Y.), filed a lawsuit. arguing that the law violates the New York Constitution because the constitution lists two classes of voters who can access absentee ballots, but now the new law applies to all voters who are outside those two groups.
In February, a trial court judge rejected the GOP plaintiff’s argument, finding they “failed to meet their heavy burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the Early Mail Voter Act is unconstitutional under the NY Constitution.” After the plaintiffs appealed, an appellate court similarly rejected the GOP’s argument and wrote that the new law “does not violate article II of the NY Constitution and was properly implemented through legislative enactment.”
Despite surviving two legal challenges, the state’s highest court will have the final say on if the law is constitutional. Should the court rule in favor of the plaintiffs, early mail-in voting in New York isn’t a total lost cause. As former CUNY/College of Staten Island professor Deborah Franzblau recently wrote in Democracy Docket, the process for amending the state’s constitution is long and complicated, requiring the state Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment in two consecutive years and then be approved by voters.
But given how former President Donald Trump and the GOP seem to be changing their tune on mail-in voting, bipartisan support for an effort to permanently allow mail-in voting in New York isn’t as far-fetched as it once was.
You can watch the oral argument live on Tuesday here.