At its meeting this month, the Yates County Legislature passed a resolution calling on the state to repeal or amend some of its laws covering early voting.
County officials say early voting staffing requirement puts undue burden on small counties
in 2019, the state passed a law requiring nine days of early voting before any election, including primaries. Early voting sites must be staffed for at least 66 hours during the early voting period. Yates County Administrator Nonie Flynn says early voting turnout hasn’t been enough to warrant that requirement.
Yates County election officials say the state has passed 115 new election laws in recent years, many of them having a negative effect on small counties. Yates ranks 60th among New York’s 62 counties with a population of just under 25,000.
The resolution “does hereby request the amendment or repeal of the above-cited Chapters of Laws that adversely affect the administration and expenses of Elections in small to midsized counties like Yates County.” A copy of the resolution was sent to Governor Kathy Hochul.
Listen to my full Inside the FLX conversation with Yates County Administrator Nonie Flynn below.
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