Senator David Carlucci Drafts Legislation to Speed Up the Counting of Absentee Ballots

(Albany, NY) – Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester) will introduce legislation to require absentee ballots be counted as they come in. The measure will ensure New Yorkers know the winners of Election Day much sooner. With several NYS Senate races still hanging in the balance due to an overwhelmly large number of absentee ballots, the Senator said this measure will bring the vote by mail system into the 21st century.

Senator David Carlucci said, “We have to address the fact that now with absentee voting being over 25% of the vote, we are in a new world and have to update how we count mail in ballots. The fact that we cannot call local races until weeks after Election Day is obscure and confusing to the public. Now we need a political interpreter to tell us who might have won and who has a chance.”

Carlucci said the legislation will require NYS Board of Elections to count absentee ballots as they come in and release the results after polls close on Election Day. This measure would be similar to how early voting results are processed.

“We know the Presidential race results before we know who has won at the local level,” said Carlucci.

The Senator said the legislation will be introduced later this week.