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New York State Democratic Presidential Primary
On March 13th New York State Senator, James Skoufis, announced proposed legislation to move the New York State Democratic presidential primary from April 28th to June 23rd, to align with State and Congressional primary elections in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. On March 28th the New York State Board of Elections and Governor Cuomo responded by postponing the presidential primary along with special elections scheduled for the same date to buy time to respond to the outbreak. On April 27th, the Board of Elections changed its decision, and cancelled the Democratic presidential primary outright, by removing several candidates who suspended their campaigns from the ballot. The decision was first criticized by supporters of presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, who hoped to secure additional convention delegates, which would allow greater influence in the Democratic Party's platform. Other critics of the decision cited reduced voter turn out for down-ballot races, which unfairly benefits incumbent candidates. Election officials said New York State Democratic Chair, Jay Jacobs, stated "Our motivation right now is to avoid what happened in Wisconsin, where we in this situation are holding a primary that asks poll workers, many of them senior citizens, to risk their health for no particular purpose." However, 42 of 62 New York counties, roughly 68% of counties in the New York State, would remain open for voting due to Congressional and State elections. At the time New York was the only state to cancel its presidential primary.

The decision was overturned on May 5th by Federal District Court Judge Analisa Torres in New York's Southern District, when presidential candidate Andrew Yang filed suit against the Board of Elections, asserting that the decision violated the 1st and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. Judge Torres stated "...the Democratic Commissioners’ April 27 Resolution removing Yang, Sanders, and eight other Democratic presidential candidates from the ballot deprived them of associational rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution."

Absentee Voting
On March 22nd, Attorney General Leticia James called for automatic absentee voting in the New York Democratic presidential primary. Cuomo later announced that he would investigate if his recently expanded executive powers would allow him to expand absentee ballot access. On April 9th, by executive order of the Governor, all New York State residents were granted the right to apply for an absentee ballot using the state's online absentee ballot application in order to facilitate safe voting in the primary elections. As stated in the order, all voters would be required to "check the box for 'Temporary illness or physical disability' with no requirement for in-person signature or appearance to be able to access an absentee ballot." In an effort to ease barriers to access, Cuomo announced on April 24th that postage paid absentee ballot applications would be mailed to all registered voters in the State. Voters can still apply for a ballot online, or opt to vote in person.

State and Local Elections
In conjunction with the presidential primary, on March 28th special elections in the 27th congressional district, the 50th senate district, the 12th, 31st, and 136th assembly districts were postponed from April 29th to June 23rd. Filings for independent nominations to petitions were postponed beginning March 31st. On April 25th special elections were cancelled for the 50th senate district, and the 12th, 31st and 136th assembly districts, as well as the Queens Borough President and New York City Council District 37. These vacancies are to be filled in the November General Election. The 27th Congressional district special election was not cancelled.

Economic Impacts
On May 14th Governor Cuomo issued a statement detailing how and when regions in New York State might begin reopen. According to guidelines outlined in the New York State Metrics to Guide Reopening New York, put out by XX YY, decisions concerning reopening "will be determined regionally, and based upon four basic criteria: rate of infection, the state of the region's health care system and its ability to absorb new cases, testing capacity to identify new cases, and evidence of a strong contact-tracing for identified cases. Regional Control Rooms, comprised of local elected officials in each region, will collect this data. Businesses will then be allowed to reopen in phases with a two week pause between each phase. Phases consider both economic impact and level of infection risk.

New York Forward Guide.

Senate and Assembly members from both parties took testimony remotely from struggling small business owners from lower Manhattan to upstate.

Western New York: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara

Finger Lakes: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates

Southern Tier: Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins

Central New York: Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego

Mohawk Valley: Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, Schoharie

North Country: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence

Capital Region: Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren, Washington

Mid-Hudson: Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester

New York City: Bronx, Kings, New York, Richmond, Queens

Long Island: Nassau, Suffolk