On June 23, Suraj Patel challenged incumbent Rep. Carolyn Maloney in New York’s Democratic primary. Six weeks after Election Day, Patel is still a candidate — because there are so many absentee ballots uncounted that officials have yet to declare a winner in his race.
Election law expert Nate Persily says New York’s problem could be the nation’s problem come November without swift and drastic action.
“I think we have two weeks to make the critical decisions that are necessary to pull off this election,” said Persily, a professor at Stanford Law School….
Persily says what’s happening in New York is a “a cautionary tale of how states and localities really need to get prepared and work with the postal service to make sure that mail balloting works.”