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New York: judge declares absentee voting unconstitutional due to coronavirus scare

Nick Langworthy, chairman of the New York Republican Party, says they "will continue to fight the uphold the will of the voters."

Voto por correo

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Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

A Saratoga County Supreme Court judge rules that it is unconstitutional to allow mail-in voting because of coronavirus fears. Republican Dianne Freestone, wrote in the ruling published Friday, Oct. 21, that the Democrat-controlled New York State Legislature "appears poised to continue the expanded absentee voting provisions of New York State Election Law … in an Orwellian perpetual state of health emergency and cloaked in the veneer of ‘voter enfranchisement,'" as collected by Fox News.

The 28-page mandate does not invalidate ballots that have already been mailed, but it does state that local election board must stop counting absentee ballots already received and "preserve" them until after Election Day on November 8 or until the complaint filed by the Republicans is resolved. A ruling that, so far, has not been ratified. The decision, explains Spectum News, goes to the Third Department of the State Appellate Division, which expects further arguments in the coming days.

Republicans in search of an "honest" election

The responses to the refusal to approve this ruling did not take long to arrive. Nick Langworthy, New York Republican Party Chairman, said in a tweet that Friday, October 21, is a good day for fair elections in New York:

He is not the only Republican in favor of Judge Freestone's petition. Robert Smullen, another plaintiff, wants election integrity to be maintained, he told WRGB in a statement reported by Fox News.

Let's hope now that they preserve our ability to make sure that our elections are done with integrity and that voters are verified and that this system of absentee balloting – just like the voters said last November that they didn’t want no-excuse absentee voting, essentially mail-in voting – that it is held to a high standard, that way to ensure that each citizen gets one vote.

Rich Amedure, another of the plaintiffs and a Republican candidate for the 48th State Senate District, is prepared to continue with the proceedings and take it all the way to the state's highest Court of Appeals, as Spectrum News reports:

I'm confident the ruling will be upheld in the higher courts. We're asking for common-sense solutions. We're not asking for any detailed nuanced interpretation of the law, so we think that our position is reasonable and sound.

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