Empire State Today

ALBANY – NYGOP Chair Ed Cox released a statement regarding the Court of Appeals decision to uphold the legislature's mail-in early voting scheme.

"The Court of Appeals decision today to uphold the legislature’s mail-in early voting scheme is an affront to every New Yorker," Cox stated.

He referred to the 2021 voter rejection of a constitutional amendment that would have permitted no-excuse absentee voting. "Yet despite that decision, Gov. Hochul and the legislature decided to enact the functional equivalent of no-excuse absentee voting when they adopted mail-in early voting in 2023," he added.

Cox criticized the court's interpretation of a 1966 state Constitution amendment which, according to the ruling, allowed the legislature to enact this law. "For 58 years, this authority was hiding in plain sight, they say. This holding is clearly contrary to what generations of New York legislators, attorneys and judges had decided and what the people said in 2021 when they rejected the amendment."

Concluding his statement, Cox expressed concern over one-party rule in New York State: "This ruling is another indication of what one-party rule means for New York State. The legislature and governor act contrary to law and our highest court turns a blind eye."