Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

All New York voters may now vote by mail this year

Gov. Andrew Cuomo; New York voting by mail

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Thursday saying Covid fear is a valid reason to get an absentee ballot.

David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

All New Yorkers will be able to vote by mail in the fall if they want. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Thursday permitting voters to point to the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for seeking an absentee ballot.

The fourth most populous state normally requires people to choose from a narrow set of impediments to getting to a polling place, such as being sick or out of town. It now joins nine states that have simply suspended those rules for the year — or, as in New York's case, expanded the definition of "illness" to cover concern about voting in person due to Covid-19.

That leaves only six states, all of them Republican bulwarks, that are still keeping their tight excuse rules for the presidential election: Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.


Like a majority of states, New York has made accommodations in order to promote robust electoral democracy this fall — no matter the status of the public health crisis. Six have switched to a mostly vote-by-mail election, most notably, while a handful of others have decided to send ballot applications to all active voters.

The new law, which Cuomo's Democratic allies in control of the Legislature passed last month, makes a change similar to what was done for the June primary — although that was accomplished by executive order.

And, unlike the primary, when all voters were mailed a request form for an absentee ballot, they will have to contact the Board of Elections in order to get a ballot this time. This may tamp down the surge of mail-in votes across the state this summer, which led to tabulation delays and disputes that prevented results in some close races from being announced for several weeks — a fact President Trump has pointed to as evidence mail voting leads to fraud, although no malfeasance in the Empire State has been alleged.

Lawmakers in Albany have already voted once to amend the state Constitution so New York can join 34 other states in allowing no-excuse absentee voting in every election. But that won't happen before 2022, and only if the Legislature reaffirms its initial vote next year.

While Trump has claimed he's in the hunt for the 29 electoral votes of his former home state, he took just 36 percent of the vote four years ago — and the last Republican to carry it was Ronald Reagan in 1984. Races for four congressional seats are competitive, however.

Read More

Why Doing Immigration the “White Way” Is Wrong

A close up of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge.

Getty Images, Tennessee Witney

Why Doing Immigration the “White Way” Is Wrong

The president is granting refugee status to white South Africans. Meanwhile, he is issuing travel bans, unsure about his duty to uphold due process, fighting birthright citizenship, and backing massive human rights breaches against people of color, including deporting citizens and people authorized to be here.

The administration’s escalating immigration enforcement—marked by “fast-track” deportations or disappearances without due process—signal a dangerous leveling-up of aggressive anti-immigration policies and authoritarian tactics. In the face of the immigration chaos that we are now in, we could—and should—turn our efforts toward making immigration policies less racist, more efficient, and more humane because America’s promise is built on freedom and democracy, not terror. As social scientists, we know that in America, thinking people can and should “just get documented” ignores the very real and large barriers embedded in our systems.

Keep ReadingShow less
Insider trading in Washington, DC

U.S. senators and representatives with access to non-public information are permitted to buy and sell individual stocks. It’s not just unethical; it sends the message that the game is rigged.

Getty Images, Greggory DiSalvo

Insider Trading: If CEOs Can’t Do It, Why Can Congress?

Ivan Boesky. Martha Stewart. Jeffrey Skilling.

Each became infamous for using privileged, non-public information to profit unfairly from the stock market. They were prosecuted. They served time. Because insider trading is a crime that threatens public trust and distorts free markets.

Keep ReadingShow less
Supreme Court Changes the Game on Federal Environmental Reviews

A pump jack seen in a southeast New Mexico oilfield.

Getty Images, Daniel A. Leifheit

Supreme Court Changes the Game on Federal Environmental Reviews

Getting federal approval for permits to build bridges, wind farms, highways and other major infrastructure projects has long been a complicated and time-consuming process. Despite growing calls from both parties for Congress and federal agencies to reform that process, there had been few significant revisions – until now.

In one fell swoop, the U.S. Supreme Court has changed a big part of the game.

Keep ReadingShow less