Congresswoman Claudia Tenney has voiced concerns about recent election-related mailers sent to voters in Cayuga County by the Center for Voter Information (CVI). The issue revolves around mail-in ballot forms that CVI, a nonprofit organization, sent to residents, which some local officials claim are part of an effort to influence the upcoming elections.
Congresswoman Tenney, who chairs the House Election Integrity Caucus, expressed her dissatisfaction with the mailers, calling them “partisan, manipulative, and dishonest.” She also criticized changes to New York’s election laws, stating that such reforms have weakened election integrity measures, allowing groups like CVI to exploit the process.
Cayuga County Republican Chairman Nathan VeVone also weighed in, noting that voters in the area have raised concerns about the pre-filled ballots. He affirmed the county’s long-standing commitment to election integrity and condemned what he described as “dirty tactics.”
David Pappert, Chairman of the Cayuga County Conservative Party, echoed these sentiments, arguing that the mailers were designed to unfairly boost Democratic turnout. Meanwhile, Joseph T. Burns, an election lawyer with Holtzman Vogel, supported Congresswoman Tenney’s efforts to draw attention to the issue, urging all New Yorkers to advocate for fair and honest elections.
“In a press release issued yesterday, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) mischaracterized the Center for Voter Information’s important, non-partisan work to turn out eligible Americans to vote. The Center for Voter Information (CVI) and the Voter Participation Center (VPC) are the nation’s largest non-partisan, non-profit organizations working to ensure that the New American Majority (NAM) – people of color, young people, and unmarried women – participate in democracy equal to their presence in society. Since 2003, CVI and VPC have helped more than 6.4 million people register and vote. Our one and only goal is to make sure that eligible, underrepresented Americans are able to engage in our democracy, regardless of how they choose to vote. In September, CVI and VPC sent 10,723 pieces of mail containing vote-by-mail applications in Cayuga County, NY. These are not “pre-filled ballots” as Representative Tenney incorrectly claims. CVI and VPC send the very same forms used by county election officials. In fact, we provide sample letters to state election officials months before the mailers go out. We also include disclaimer language on our mail to reduce duplicate applications. The disclaimers state: “If you’ve already submitted a request for an early mail ballot for the General Election on November 5th, 2024, there is no need to submit another request.” Citizens in Cayuga County who received our letters can simply use the enclosed vote-by-mail application, sign it, and mail it in. If individuals received our mailer and do not wish to vote by mail, they can simply discard it. Representative Tenney’s comments about our work are part of a disinformation campaign that threatens the crucial work of non-partisan groups like ours who seek to help register and turn out eligible voters. We sincerely hope that all elected officials will support our efforts toward building a representative democracy and increasing voter participation, instead of misleading and alarming voters. Elections should be a contest of ideas, not a contest of who gets to vote”
– Tom Lopach, President and CEO of VPC and CVI
This situation has intensified the discussion around voting practices and election laws, with officials from both sides advocating for measures that align with their respective views on election integrity and voter participation.
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