April 21, 2020…“Published news reports indicating Governor Cuomo will issue an Executive Order mandating the automatic mailing of ballots is an illegal and unconstitutional political power grab that will severely undermine the integrity of our elections.

“Throughout this pandemic, I have worked in good faith with the Governor to make necessary adjustments to our electoral system to protect the safety of New Yorkers, but this executive action crosses a red line.

“I have been willing to support a system that allows for all New Yorkers to use the threat of coronavirus to vote by absentee ballot, but automatically mailing ballots without proper security measures in place most certainly invites fraud. There have been numerous cases across the country that should serve as a grave warning sign for the potential problems: ballot harvesting, ballots arriving late, ballots going to the wrong or old address, more than one ballot being delivered and bins of ballots that were never delivered. I have spoken directly to Boards of Elections commissioners from across the state of New York who oppose this order and characterize it as an impossible task.

“The ‘never let a crisis go to waste’ mentality has permeated the Governor’s office and Cuomo is using this pandemic as a reason to expand his powers and force his political agenda through. If he goes forward with this, we will be prepared to legally challenge it at every level.”