Bloomberg: New York Counts More Votes as Mail-in Mistake Laws Change

More than 8,000 ballots that would have been tossed in the trash in years gone by actually got counted last year after New York changed its mail-in voting rules.

Local election officials in New York now have the power to contact voters who omit secrecy envelopes, or forget to sign, or whose names became too smeared on a rainy day to check against the signatures on file.

Eight states followed suit this year, establishing or improving “ballot curing” processes—partly in response to the surge in absentee voting during the coronavirus pandemic, partly at the urging of advocates for the elderly and disabled, and anticipating that people will want to avoid Election Day lines in the future.

The changes mean that more votes count—potentially enough to make a difference in close elections. …

The issue hasn’t drawn the attention of other voting debates, such as the Democratic exodus from Texas to deny a quorum, the fraud-hunt in Arizona, and the Georgia law against giving refreshments to people waiting in line.

It’s not “particularly sexy,” Sylvia Albert, director of Voting and Elections for Common Cause, said of ballot curing. But when you add it to other legislative changes, “we provide access across the board and give people options,” Albert said.