Elections

PA Gov. Tom Wolf tells residents it may take ‘a few days’ to count their votes

Published

1 year ago

November 2, 2020

Staff Writer

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is telling voters in his state it may take a few days to accurately count the votes for the presidential election in a new ad scheduled to air from Election Day through the end of the week.

“These are unprecedented times. Because of the coronavirus, there were millions of votes cast by mail so it may take longer than usual to count every vote,” he says in the ad, funded by a voter advocacy group, The Voter Project. “Folks in our election offices – your neighbors, family and friends are working hard ensuring every single vote is counted.”

Pennsylvania state law prohibits the counting of ballots before Election Day. Officials in Pennsylvania say they hope to have all votes counted by November 6, but a recent Supreme Court case requiring ballots received after Election Day to be segregated has raised concerns that the results may take longer.

President Trump, however, is demanding a result on election night. “It would be very, very proper and very nice if a winner were declared on November 3rd, instead of counting ballots for two weeks, which is totally inappropriate, and I don’t believe that that’s by our laws,” Trump said last week.

‘The Election should end on November 3rd., not weeks later!’ he tweeted Friday.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1322294301183782912

Elections

New York City Dems Push Law to Allow 800,000 Non-Citizens to Vote in Municipal Elections

The New York City Council will vote on December 9 on a law to allow green-card holders and residents with work permits to vote in municipal elections

Published

20 hours ago

November 28, 2021

Staff Writer

New York’s Democratic party is battling over the constitutionality of voter laws. On December 9, the New York City Council will vote on a law to allow green-card holders and residents with work permits to vote in municipal elections.

“Around 808,000 New York City residents who have work permits or are lawful permanent residents would be eligible to vote under the legislation, which has the support of 34 of 51 council members, a veto-proof majority” reports Fox News.

“It’s important for the Democratic Party to look at New York City and see that when voting rights are being attacked, we are expanding voter participation,” Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a sponsor of the bill and Democrat who represents the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, told the New York Times. Rodriguez immigrated from the Dominican Republic and became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

Fox News reports:

Laura Wood, Chief Democracy Officer for the mayor’s office, said at a hearing on the bill in September that the law could violate the New York State Constitution, which states that voters must be U.S. citizens age 18 or older.

Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated he could veto the bill following the September hearing.
“We’ve done everything that we could possibly get our hands on to help immigrant New Yorkers—including undocumented folks—but…I don’t believe it is legal,” de Blasio told WNYC radio at the time.

Mayor-elect Eric Adams, however, submitted testimony to the September hearing in favor of the bill. “In a democracy, nothing is more fundamental than the right to vote and to say who represents you and your community in elected office…Currently, almost one million New Yorkers are denied this foundational right.”

The legislation was first introduced two years ago, but had not yet gained traction due to the legal concerns.