New York Officials, Election Interference, New York 2010

Crime: New York officials interfere with the voting rights of military and overseas voters, violating the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act).

Defendant/Respondent: New York State officials, including the New York State Board of Elections, State of New York

City and State: New York, NY

Date: October 1, 2010 (transmission of absentee ballots was required by this date)

Sentence/Outcome: A consent decree was signed on [no date given], requiring the State of New York and the New York State Board of Elections to comply with the MOVE Act and UOCAVA.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to allow uniformed service voters and their families and overseas citizens to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office. In 2009, Congress enacted the MOVE Act, which made broad amendments to UOCAVA. Among those changes was a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters covered under UOCAVA, by mail or electronically at the voter’s option, no later than 45 days before federal elections. The 45th day before the Nov. 2, 2010, federal general election fell on Sept.18, 2010.

The State of New York sought a waiver from the Department of Defense of the requirement to transmit ballots by the 45th day before the Nov. 2 federal general election on grounds that New York’s Sept. 14, 2010, primary election prohibited the State from complying with the requirement. The State’s waiver application included a comprehensive plan that outlined the steps the State would take to ensure that UOCAVA voters had time to receive, mark, and submit their ballots in time to have the ballot counted.

Despite the Oct. 1, 2010 deadline outlined in the comprehensive plan set forth in New York’s waiver application, election officials in New York State nonetheless failed to transmit absentee ballots for the Federal general election to UOCAVA voters by that date in at least thirteen New York counties. These thirteen counties include the five counties in New York City (New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx and Richmond Counties) and eight other counties around the State (Erie, Niagara, Putnam, Westchester, Onondaga, Albany, Nassau, and Wayne Counties).

The Justice Department filed suit against the State of New York and the New York State Board of Elections on Oct. 12, 2010. The case has been resolved through a consent decree.

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