Following a state primary marred by unprecedented confusion among voters seeking to use the state’s vote-by-mail or absentee ballot system, State Senator Leroy Comrie and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz called on the State legislature to pass legislation that will mandate the future use of ballot tracking technology for absentee ballots, as is already the case in some other states.

The bill would require the New York City Board of Elections and the various county boards of elections to provide a user-friendly website for voters who request and submit absentee ballots, to track their ballots through the entire absentee voting process.

In states like Massachusetts, Iowa, and Florida, Intelligent Mail barcode, and other tracking technologies, are used by elections administrators to monitor and display the status and movements of individual ballots from the moment the ballot is requested until the moment it is counted. However, New York State does not yet have such a system in place, leaving every eligible absentee voter in the dark with regards to the status of their ballot.

Dinowitz said, “As we continue working to expand vote-by-mail options for New York’s voters, it is imperative that we have systems in place that ensure confidence and accountability between voters and Boards of Elections”.

He said if such legislation had been in place for the Jun. 23 primary, it would have alleviated significant voter stress and empowered voters to make educated decisions about how to participate in the country’s democracy. “Instead, voters were left in the dark and forced to choose between protecting their health and casting their ballot,” he said. “That is unacceptable and we must take tangible steps to ensure that never happens again.”

As reported by Norwood News, on Monday, Jun. 22, Dinowitz issued a statement in which he said that he had received a number of complaints from constituents who said they had not received their absentee ballots and had concerns about their votes being counted in the Jun. 23 primary.

In Monday’s statement, Dinowitz said he had gotten in contact with the Board of Elections, and the Board said that ballots had indeed been mailed to eligible voters. He said he had also been in contact with the United States Postal Service and representatives from the organization said that they had not experienced any backlogs with absentee ballots at their facilities.

Dinowitz thanked Comrie for introducing the new legislation about the proposed technology in the State Senate and encouraged his colleagues to join him in supporting the new bill which he said would improve the voting process in New York State.

Meanwhile, Comrie said, “In the days leading up to Primary Day, it became increasingly clear that we were dealing with a major malfunction of the absentee ballot system. Everyday, I heard from individuals that they never received their absentee ballots after submitting the application”.

He added, “New Yorkers should not have to choose between staying healthy and exercising their right to vote. We absolutely need a system in place that will let voters know when to expect their ballots and when their ballots are counted. This level of confusion cannot stand as a defect in our electoral system.”