ALBANY – Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris on January 11 passed two bills as part of the Senate Democratic Majority’s efforts to improve New York State’s electoral system and empower voters, part of their tradition of kicking off the legislative session by passing major pro-voter, anti-disenfranchisement, pro-democracy legislation. The bills passed provided greater access to using absentee ballots and ensuring they are counted, no-excuse absentee voting, and an absentee ballot tracking system.

Senate Deputy Leader Gianaris said, "As our Democratic supermajority continues to reform the way elections are run, fixing our latest-in-the-nation vote counting status will go a long way towards restoring faith in election results. I am proud to have authored this important legislation so we are never again still counting votes into the new year."

The bills authored by Senator Gianaris passed on January 11 are:

Earlier Counting of Absentee Ballots: S.1027 which would require absentee ballots to be canvassed prior to Election Day with results to be announced after polls close on election night.

Earlier Processing of Absentee Ballot Applications: S.516, which would require absentee ballot applications to be processed and approved faster pursuant to a specific rolling calendar.

The bills that will be passed by the Senate Majority build on the historic reforms passed during the 2019 and 2020 Legislative Session.

Video of Senator Gianaris’ floor speech is available on YouTube: