New York set to give anti-Trump attorney general ‘unprecedented’ power over state elections: expert

A new requirement that goes into effect in New York this weekend is expected to give New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, sweeping authority over the state’s election process, a New York elections lawyer said.

“Nobody’s really talking about this or how much of an impact this is going to have,” election lawyer Joseph T. Burns, a partner at the law firm Holtzman Vogel, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this week. “But it’s interesting because, look, there’s a lot of bad things happening in New York with elections and everything else, but this strikes me as particularly bad. And it’s certainly a power grab by the attorney general as well.”

Under the John R. Lewis New York Voting Rights Act, which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law in 2022, the pre-clearance requirement in the bill is set to go into effect Sept. 22. The new rules require some jurisdictions in New York state to ask the attorney general or a designated court for pre-clearance to make election-related decisions that include changing early voting hours and removing deceased residents from the voter rolls, Burns said.

Burns published an editorial in the New York Post this week warning that the new law gives James “unprecedented authority over election processes in some of the most hotly contested congressional districts in the country, including Long Island and the Hudson Valley.” The looming requirement has gone unnoticed, Burns said, telling Fox Digital: “Nobody’s talking about it. It’s pretty extraordinary.”

“The new rules upend the system of constitutionally mandated, bipartisan election administration that has served New York voters for generations,” Burns wrote in his column, which was published Sept. 15. “The law requires some counties, cities, towns, villages and school districts to seek approval from the attorney general or an appointed court before making changes related to elections or voting.”

The new rules cover sprawling jurisdictions such as New York City and nine counties on Long Island, including America’s largest municipality, Hempstead, as well as other areas known as “covered entities” under the requirement.

Jurisdictions are determined based on several factors, Burns said, citing documents from James’ office last year, including arrest rates for residents of “protected classes” and whether a jurisdiction has committed civil rights or voting rights violations in the past 25 years. the rules are described in detail.

NY ELECTION LAW THAT ‘NATIONALIZES’ LOCAL POLITICS FLYS UNDER THE RADAR DESPITE BEING ‘MONUMENTAL’: EXPERT

Burns, who has a background in Republican politics and election legal issues, told Fox Digital there are “four triggers” that mark a jurisdiction as a “covered entity.”

“Any political subdivision that, within the preceding 25 years, has been the subject of a court order or government enforcement action based on a finding of any violation of this title, the Federal Voting Rights Act, the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, or a voting-related violation of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Burns said, reading from a 2023 document released by James’ office.

Burns cited the example of Erie County, which is considered a “covered entity” under the new rules when the jurisdiction received a court order alleging violations of the 14th Amendment about a decade ago.

“You think, ‘Wow, that sounds really sinister,'” he said of the 2014 court order. “‘They’re probably doing something. They’re disenfranchising minorities.'”

BLUE STATES’ EFFORTS TO ERADICATE VOTING LAW COULD CHANGE LOCAL RACES FOREVER: EXPERT

“No, not at all. What happened was that the county board and the county legislature couldn’t agree on a plan to apportion districts,” Burns said of the case. “… Something like that would put the local government in a pre-democratic state.”

“It’s not just bad policy because it undermines the bipartisan nature of the boards of elections. Which, again, are not perfect, there are so many inefficiencies. But overall, in this day and age when people are so concerned about the integrity of elections, what’s better than both parties having a stake in the outcome, both parties wanting and needing to make sure that elections are conducted efficiently and fairly? And now you have a partisan elected official stepping in to essentially have veto power over our boards of elections,” Burns said.

Under the New York Constitution, elections are conducted by bipartisan boards that represent the Republican and Democratic parties equally.

New York Court Decision Gives Democrats Access to Information on Competitive Constituencies

“One side watches the other, and both parties have a vested interest in ensuring that elections run smoothly — even in jurisdictions heavily dominated by one party or the other, like New York. It’s not a perfect system, and it certainly has its flaws. But it does a good job of preserving voter confidence,” Burns wrote in his column.

“However, the state’s VRA preclearance rules undermine this constitutionally established system of bipartisan election administration,” he added.

Burns said it’s possible the new rules, which go into effect about 40 days before the presidential election, could cause some disruption to this year’s election.

Democrats turn to state courts as political ‘weapon’ amid 2024 GERRYMANDER election raid: experts

“It’s certainly possible. I mean, what happens if, God forbid, an early voting site or an election day voting site … a pipe bursts and floods and the site is inoperable, or a fire breaks out in the facility and the facility burns down. They have to move it.”

Local commissioners would then select a new polling location before submitting an application to the attorney general’s office. Burns said he’s not saying the attorney general’s office won’t approve the application quickly, but rather that it adds layers of paperwork and approvals to conducting an election.

“New Yorkers of all political parties and persuasions want elections to be conducted fairly, honestly and efficiently — and the state’s system of bipartisan election administration already serves voters well,” Burns wrote in his editorial.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Our elections — and the public’s confidence in them — will not be improved by interference from the attorney general.”

Fox News Digital reached out to James’ office about the impending order and Burns’ concerns raised in the editorial but did not receive a response before publication.