July 21, 201
It appears that Westchester County Republican Rob Astorino, is trying to force a primary, with GOP Congressman Lee Zeldin of Long Island. Astorino put out this statement, on Wednesday afternoon:
Republican candidate for governor and former two-term Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino today said a new law that eliminates the signature requirement for absentee ballot applications could make it easier for potential fraud.
“As it’s made easier to vote, it must be made harder to cheat. Andrew Cuomo banning the signature requirement for absentee ballot applications opens the door to the latter. It’s a completely unnecessary step that only further undermines faith in our elections,” said Astorino.
“Astorino unveiled a five-point “Election Integrity Plan”:
Require photo identification prior to voting in person (anyone without photo ID would receive one free of charge)
Restore the signature requirement for absentee ballot applications
Strengthen chain of custody protocols for all mail-in ballots to prevent ballot harvesting
Require regular maintaining and updating of voter rolls (Currently, a voter is supposed to be removed if they are deceased or if they have moved out of state. However, there are almost one million “inactive’’ voters. Going forward, if someone hasn’t voted in 7 years and has not responded to multiple residency verification attempts, that personal shall be removed from the voter rolls).
Prevent non-citizens from voting in any election, including municipal elections.
“These are common sense measures that would go a long way towards increasing confidence in our elections. I’m fine with many of the new measures and making it even easier to vote, but again, ensuring election integrity is every bit as important,” said Astorino.
