From Albany Times Union by Jerry Goldfeder

Remember Florida’s butterfly ballot and the hanging chad? The 2000 presidential election
seems like a distant memory, but leave it to New York to remind us. Like the 36-day
recount madness that left Americans wondering who the next president was, it took 43
days from the recent June Democratic primary election to settle the outcome of the Queens
County race for district attorney. We finally know who the winner is — Melinda Katz by 55
votes over Tiffany Caban and five other candidates — but we also know who the real losers
were: scores of otherwise eligible voters who never had their ballots counted.

The culprit? New York’s infamously arcane and hyper-technical election laws.

Most followers of New York elections have a pretty good idea of how far behind our state is:
Thirty-seven states enacted early voting before we did; 28 states and Washington, D.C.,
routinely allow no-excuse mail-in voting, but we still do not; and 16 states and D.C. have
enacted automatic voter registration, but New York sticks to its clunky, error-prone procedures.
For good measure, ask any voter about their experience at the polls, and you will hear tons of
horror stories.

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