New York and other states that allow mail-in voting face another wave of uncertainty with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could help the Trump administration assert federal control over mail ballots.
But for now at least, with legal fights continuing over those efforts as midterm elections approach, New York's mail voting is set to proceed this fall without interference from Washington. Voters opting to cast ballots by mail — as nearly 840,000 New Yorkers did in the 2024 election — are free to apply for them with no new hurdles or prospect that their votes will get stopped in the mail.
New York is set to start sending out ballots on Sept. 18 — just over three weeks from now — to voters who requested them..
The conflict stems from a March 31 order
by President Donald Trump that aims to give the U.S. Postal Service new authority over state-run elections. It would require states to send ballots to voters in envelopes with federal barcodes and distribute them only to voters whose names appear on citizen lists compiled in Washington to verify eligibility.
Key parts of Trump's order were later blocked by preliminary injunctions in two separate court challenges. But on Monday, Aug. 24, the Supreme Court's conservative majority lifted one of those injunctions on procedural grounds, calling it premature and enabling the Trump administration to proceed with its plans while the case plays out.
New York was one of 24 states that brought that challenge in a Massachusetts federal court on April 3. In a statement after the Supreme Court ruled, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she and her counterparts were exploring their legal options and vowed that the fight was "far from over."
“This decision is a painful setback, but it will not be the final word," James said in a statement. "The right to vote is sacred, and no administration should be allowed to put that right in jeopardy by making it harder for eligible voters to cast their ballots."
Just three days before the ruling, the U.S. Postal Service had posted the final version of the mail-ballot regulations that it drafted to implement Trump's order. But that push remains on hold due to the preliminary injunction still in place in the second court case, which was brought by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts.
How does all of this affect NY voting this fall?
Gov. Kathy Hochul fumed about the attempt to control states' mail voting procedures at a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 25. She accused the Trump administration of interfering to try to stave off Republican losses in the coming elections. And she scoffed at the justification that it was being done to ensure "election integrity."
"They should not be concerned about the integrity of mail-in voting in the state of New York," Hochul said. "This is all made up. It's made-up B.S. to try and scare people to cause them in advance to question the results, because they know they're going to lose. It is a desperate, desperate, pathetic attempt to try and instill a lack of trust in the process."
Jeffrey Wice, a New York Law School professor and election expert, told the USA TODAY Network he expects mail voting to proceed as usual in New York and other states this fall, given how little time remains before the first ballots are cast before the Nov. 3 election. But in the meantime, he said, Trump's order and the ensuing court fights have left a "state of confusion and uncertainty."
"There's no way of knowing how this is going to turn out," Wice said in an interview on Tuesday, Aug. 25. "This really leaves election administrators and the public with their hands up in the air."
Even if the Trump administration ultimately prevailed in court, its plans to disseminate federal voter lists and mail-ballot envelopes with barcodes couldn't realistically be put in place in time for the upcoming election, Wice argued.
"I fully expect New York's election procedures to move forward as planned," he said.
How does mail voting work in NY?
New York has allowed voters to cast ballots by mail instead of in person since 2020, when that option was first offered in the throes of the COVID pandemic and fears about catching and spreading the virus in polling places. Democratic lawmakers and Hochul later made that practice permanent with a state law in 2023 that survived a court challenge by Republicans.
Some 837,000 mail ballots were cast in New York in the 2024 election, or about 10% of the 8.1 million counted votes, according to tallies from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan panel that gives guidance to states (and whose members Trump removed in July).
To obtain a mail ballot, voters can apply either through an online portal by the state Board of Elections or in person at their local election office. Completed ballots may be mailed or hand delivered to the voter's county Board of Elections, or else dropped off at poll site on Election Day or during the nine days of early voting that precede it.
The state Board of Elections declined to comment on the pending litigation involving Trump's executive order and how it may affect mail voting this fall.
Kathleen McGrath, a spokesperson for the board, told the USA TODAY Network that Sept. 18 is still "the legal deadline for county boards to begin transmitting mail ballots to military and overseas voters." That comes about a week after counties must certify their general election ballots by Sept. 10.
Emily Barnes, Albany reporter for the USA TODAY Network, contributed to this report.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA TODAY Network. Reach him at CMcKenna@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY mail voting is unchanged for this fall as Trump seeks U.S. control
