Republican election commissioner outlines bipartisan operational priorities including enrollment freeze and paper-ballot amendment

At the Feb. 10 Senate Elections Committee meeting, John Quigley, Republican election commissioner from Worcester County and Republican caucus chair of the New York State Election Commissioners' Association (NYSECCA), presented the association’s 2025 legislative priorities and highlighted three items he described as newly emphasized: extension of an enrollment-change freeze window, an option allowing losing candidates to decline recounts, and pursuing a constitutional amendment to require paper ballots.

Quigley said the enrollment-change freeze proposal (listed as item 11 in the NYSECCA priorities) would prevent a person who registered and voted in a primary from changing their party enrollment during an open caucus window and thereby participating in the opposing party’s caucus selection. He told the committee the change would “allow an individual to stay within their party until the conclusion of the caucus window rather than giving them the opportunity to sort between parties and partake in how a candidate is selected for each of the major party lines.”

On recounts, Quigley described an Ulster County practice that lets a candidate with fewer votes opt out of triggering a county recount regardless of the margin; he said that procedure provided closure and avoided forcing recounts when candidates wished to decline them.

Quigley also urged support for a state constitutional amendment to enshrine the use of paper ballots. He said New York’s current statutory requirement for paper ballots is not constitutionalized and asked the committee to consider protecting paper-ballot elections in the state constitution so “every election that we have going forward will be done on paper.”

Committee members asked follow-up questions. Senator Kavanaugh and others asked about the specific priority items Quigley identified; a member asked whether the list included any proposed changes to the timing of special elections (which are called by the governor), and Quigley said changes to special-election timing had not been proposed by his association. Committee counsel and staff noted they would follow up on specific statutory qualification language for inspectors (for example, whether inspectors must be registered voters, which would affect whether noncitizen students could serve as inspectors under SB 1809).

Why it matters: Quigley framed the priorities as procedural, bipartisan fixes intended to reduce administrative friction, clarify qualifications and protect voting methods. The enrollment-freeze and counts/ recounts items could alter who may participate in caucuses and how quickly election contests are certified. Embedding paper-ballot protections in the state constitution would make a statutory change more durable.

Ending: Quigley’s presentation concluded with committee members thanking him and noting staff follow-up on statutory qualifications and other technical details.