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GOP cries foul over Democratic mailer with absentee ballot application

An absentee ballot application is also pre-filled out on behalf of voter, and listing COVID-19 concern as a reason for the request.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A mailer being sent out by the state Democratic Party is raising some eyebrows because of its unusual contents.

"It just seemed a little bit odd, and I actually called the Board of Elections because I saw it came from the party itself, and they said the form is valid," said Dawn Fisher, after one of the mailers arrived at her home addressed to her daughter.

The form Fisher referred to was an application for an absentee ballot, already filled out for her daughter, along with pre-paid postage to send it in.

If you vote by absentee or mail in ballot, you must first file an application for a ballot from the Board of Elections, which will then send you the ballot, which you then fill out and then send back to them with your vote.

While a Board of Elections source says there appears to be no law against a political party mailing out applications to its members, an attorney specializing in election law believes there could possibly be a case made if someone were to bring this before a judge.

"As a strictly legal matter, I think it's maybe a close call," said James A. Gardner, a distinguished professor of at the University at Buffalo.

"The statute on the books he seems to contemplate that it is the Board of Elections that will supply applications for an absentee ballot upon request of the voter." he said.

The absentee ballot application sent to Fisher's daughter, in addition to her residency information, also had the reason for her request to vote by mail marked as being due to "concern over COVID-19."

"That's what really piqued my interest," Fisher said. "Who are they (the state Democratic Party) to say that on her behalf?"

It's also piqued more than the interest of Republican leaders, who accuse the Democrats of crossing a line.

"For Democrats to pre-fill out the box for people, when on the application it says, 'I am filling this out in good faith in terms of the reason, I need an absentee ballot,' puts that voter in a position to potentially lie if they send it in," said Jessica Proud, a spokesperson for the New York State Republican Committee.

Proud also hastened to note that last year voters rejected a proposal for the state to allow no excuse absentee balloting, after which Gov. Kathy Hochul and her fellow democrats who control the state legislature crafted a law, which allowed for people to merely indicate they had concerns over COVID to vote absentee.

According to Proud, while there would nothing to stop to the GOP from mailing out applications for absentee ballots to its party members, she insisted they would never fill out the information, including the reason for the request, on the voter's behalf.

In the end, while there may be nothing illegal about a party sending its members an application to vote by mail, and even filling out the form on their behalf, Gardner cautioned, "If I were their lawyer, I would say, 'You should stay away with this.'

"Number one, because you may be skirting a line and pushing things farther than they should go. Number two, it's just dumb in this particular environment we live in. We now live in an electoral environment in which half country is convinced there is rampant voter fraud, and in that context, for a party expose itself to that kind of an accusation seems to be pretty stupid."

   


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