Settlement reached for November election: Eligible voters should not lose their constitutional rights over technical issues

ALBANY, NY – Today, a settlement agreement for the November election has been reached between attorneys representing New York voters and state attorneys with the New York State Board of Elections and Office of the New York Attorney General, addressing issues brought by Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Selendy & Gay in their July case over the process by which the state counts absentee ballots. The League of Women Voters of New York State and an individual, Carmelina Palmer, are plaintiffs in the case.  

Terms of the settlement specify how voters will be contacted if their ballot is rejected and how they can fix the problem. The state has expanded who will benefit from this “cure” process to include other types of errors beyond their signature, including defects with their envelope. It will also, for the first time, provide a clear list of technical issues – such as use of pencil or extraneous marks on the ballot – that do not trigger ballot rejection and do not require any further voter action. Counties had previously used many of these reasons to disqualify ballots, leading to alarming ballot rejection rates, including in this year’s primary elections. More than 84,000 ballots were rejected in New York City alone. The settlement builds off the suite of voter protections addressed by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature in August.

“This settlement, combined with legislative action, will give voters clarity and confidence heading into the fall,” said Danielle Lang, co-director, voting rights and redistricting at Campaign Legal Center (CLC). “New York should see a sharp reduction in the rejection rate of absentee ballots, a major departure from its worst-in-the-nation rejection rate in previous elections. This is the result of a collaborative process with the state where election officials recognized the staggering problem of ballot rejections and came to the table to identify solutions. We all agree that eligible voters should not lose their constitutional rights over technical issues.”

“The right to vote by absentee ballot has been strengthened for all New Yorkers,” stated Laura Ladd Bierman, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New York State. “Voters now have the opportunity to correct unintended mistakes made when completing and returning their absentee ballots. With new laws passed by the Legislature, signed by the Governor, and now this settlement, a process has been established to ensure that voters’ ballot will not be rejected without their knowledge and ability to fix the error. This is a huge win for New York voters.”

 “We are gratified that the Governor and legislature have addressed issues raised in our suit for the upcoming election,” said Selendy & Gay partner Joshua Margolin. “This is a very important step for New York to protect its citizens during one of the most important presidential elections in US history.”

For this election, voters will be given five to seven days (depending on the date of receipt of the ballot) to verify their identity and fix any problems with their ballot after being notified by the Board of Elections. The settlement specifies the way that the Board must contact voters by phone, email or mail. Voters can resolve any issues raised by the Board by providing their name, date of birth, and voter registration address and returning their notice form to affirm their identity.

Read the League of Women Voters of New York State’s FAQs sheet on voting in 2020.

In the 2018 general election, New York had the highest absentee ballot rejection rate in the country, discarding more than 34,000 absentee ballots or about 14% of all absentee ballots cast. The use of mail voting skyrocketed in this year’s primaries due to the pandemic.

Paul Smith, vice president, litigation and strategy at Campaign Legal Center (CLC), released the following statement:

“We are saddened by the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an inspirational figure who rose to the top of the legal profession with strong convictions and unwavering determination. Ginsburg’s enduring legacy is that she was a trailblazer who stood up for equality in all its forms. She upheld our democracy and its ideals, repeatedly standing with voters seeking to exercise their rights and litigants seeking to remove discriminatory barriers standing in their way.

Ginsburg’s passing comes at a critical moment when American democracy is at risk from actors who seek to undermine the legitimacy of elections and use the legal system to disenfranchise voters. Without Ginsburg’s steady presence on the court, voting rights advocates will have to work twice as hard to protect elections and ensure they are free and fair. We will do so in her memory.

Ginsburg was so passionate about her job that every detail mattered. I remember arguing a case after she joined the court in the 1990s and being scolded by her for misunderstanding a fine point of civil procedure. But then, just a few years later, she showed her kindness when I got the chance to argue the landmark gay rights case, Lawrence v. Texas. I’ll never forget how she helped with a softball question when she thought I needed to be rescued from cross-examination by her good friend, but ideological opposite, Justice Antonin Scalia. Her friendship with Scalia said a lot about her character and about relationships in the legal profession more generally: you don’t always have to agree to get along.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and his former company XPO Logistics for alleged straw donations that continued through 2018.

CLC uncovered several instances between 2015 and 2018 where XPO employees and DeJoy family members contributed to the same candidate or committee--including over $50,000 to Trump Victory, President Trump’s joint fundraising committee--during the same period of time, and often in similar amounts. In June, DeJoy hired three of the XPO employees who made such contributions to high-ranking positions at the United States Postal Service (USPS).

The Washington Post reported that, through 2014, former employees at DeJoy’s company New Breed Logistics received bonuses as reimbursement for their political contributions. CLC’s complaint alleges that the patterns of giving continued through 2018, after XPO Logistics acquired New Breed in 2014 and during the period that DeJoy was CEO and a board member.

This violates federal campaign finance law and denies the public the knowledge of the true sources of the funds, since DeJoy was obscuring the source of more than $1 million in campaign contributions. The straw donor scheme appears to have been carried out through donations made in the names of his employees and family members.

“DeJoy’s reimbursement scheme disguised the true source of potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions, and appears to have continued through 2018. DeJoy is legally permitted to make contributions, as long as he does so in his own name, using his own money, and within legal contribution limits—but that does not appear to have happened,” said Brendan Fischer, director, federal reform at CLC. “Straw donations, where a donor routes campaign contributions through another person, are prohibited because they are a means of evading the law’s transparency requirements and contribution limits. The FEC needs to crack down on violations like this to protect the right of voters to know who is giving money to influence their vote and our government.”

Read the full complaint.