Observer-Dispatch
State Senate Deputy Minority Leader Joseph Griffo announced he will introduce legislation to change the way the state awards its Electoral College votes in a statement Wednesday.
Griffo’s legislation would change New York from a winner-take-all system to allocating Electoral College votes by congressional district, similar to Nebraska and Maine. The statewide winner will receive two electoral votes from at-large electors.
The New York State Electoral College Reform Act also would include a faithful elector clause, requiring electors to vote with the voters in the congressional district they represent.
Many New Yorkers, especially those in upstate, are frustrated by the state’s current approach and feel their vote doesn’t carry as much weight as those in other states, Griffo said.
Missing sticky notes. Hastily created spreadsheets. Mislaid ballots.
State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte outlined a series of errors and violations of state election law in the 2020 election for New York’s 22nd Congressional District in a 21-page ruling Tuesday. Of the eight county boards of elections in the district, only Tioga County escaped the judge’s criticism.
During sworn testimony on Nov. 23 and 24, the county boards of elections made election commissioners available to answer questions from DelConte or attorneys for the candidates, U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi and Republican challenger Claudia Tenney. Tenney leads Brindisi by 12 votes in the latest tally in a rematch of the 2018 election.