Jacobson Bill Will Eliminate Conflicts of Interest

Governor Kathy Hochul signed major reform legislation sponsored by Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson (D-104) and State Senator Shelley Mayer (D-37) to eliminate conflicts of interest that arise when Board of Elections employees work for a company that sells equipment to the Board, perform campaign services for candidates in their county, or run for office.

Through Jacobson and Mayer’s legislation, S.612/A.1244 of 2024, Board of Elections employees cannot hold financial interest in any company that provides services to candidates in an election overseen by that employee’s Board. This includes campaign consulting, direct mail, digital marketing, and printing services.

The new law also restricts Board employees from having a financial interest in or working for a company that sells equipment to the Board, such as voting machines, electronic poll books, printers, or other equipment.

“In recent years, our democracy has been under attack. The electoral system is questioned on a regular basis. Whether based on fact or conspiracy theories, these attacks have undermined the public’s confidence in our Boards of Elections and the basic work that they do. For our democratic process to work, the public must have faith that Boards of Elections are acting in the best interest of the public and not themselves and that they are administering elections fairly,” said Assemblymember Jacobson.

Senator Mayer said, “I am pleased Governor Hochul has signed legislation to bolster the integrity of the elections process in New York State. This is an important layer of accountability that will eliminate actual and perceived conflicts of interest within our local Board of Elections. I thank Assemblymember Jacobson for championing this bill in the Assembly and Governor Hochul for signing it into law.”

Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause New York, also praised the law: “Common Cause has long advocated for reforming New York’s state and local Boards of Elections, and this bill will do exactly that by reducing any potential issues that call into question the hard work of our BOE employees. We applaud the Governor and Legislature for getting this bill done and look forward to working with lawmakers this session to continue putting New York voters first.”

The new law would also require a Board employee running for public office to take unpaid leave from the Board while a candidate unless both Board of Elections commissioners agree to waive this requirement. The employee would be restricted from working on matters directly related to the employee’s election.

“While these restrictions might seem like common sense, our current laws have not been effective in stopping these obvious conflicts of interest,” said Jacobson.