Voting rights groups in New York state are very happy with the way the 2026 election was conducted. Those groups mobilized in New York and across the country in response to what they said were threats by the Trump administration to discourage people from voting and to interfere in the state’s job of running the election.
Susan Lerner of Common Cause New York said none of those big threats happened. She said they were especially happy about the way early voting and voting by mail went.
"This is a huge accomplishment. Common Cause New York and our partners," she said, "were so proud to push for early voting, which New Yorkers are now clearly very comfortable with, and also make it easier to vote by mail. These reforms made our elections more accessible and voters are steadily relying on them more each election, exactly as we had hoped when we passed these reforms in 2019."
A coalition of groups including Common Cause, the NAACP, Hands Off NYC and the League of Women Voters sent eleven hundred volunteers to polling places around the state to ensure that any issues were handled according to the law.
The only significant problem happened in Westchester County, where a pre-election software update prevented machines from reading ballots. The advocates said the county followed proper procedure, keeping paper ballots secure, having police escort them to the board of elections and making sure observers watched the count.
"This is a huge win for all of New Yorkers who once again showed that we won't be taken for fools, (13:13) and ignored attempts to sow distrust about our elections and deter people from voting," said Ryan Warren of Hands Off NYC. "All of this is only possible because New Yorkers this election showed out and showed up to vote en masse. The federal government fought hard to intimidate New Yorkers, confuse voters, and call into question the results before the votes were even counted. But New Yorkers across the state fought back."
The voting rights groups say now comes the need for the public to be patient as the slow process of counting mail and affidavit ballots continues, recounts take place where needed and results are certified by early December. A slow and careful process isn’t a sign of corruption, they say – it’s a sign the system is working exactly as it should.
