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NY State Board of Elections certifies voting systems, adopts drop-box rules for public comment and sets campaign-fund ceiling
Summary
The board approved certification of an ES&S voting system (AutoMARK 2), an upgrade to the ES&S electronic poll book, a deputy counsel appointment, published draft regulations for ballot drop boxes for 60-day public comment, and certified a $49,000,000 ceiling for public campaign matching funds for the 2026 primary.
The New York State Board of Elections convened May 12, 2026, and approved a series of operational and regulatory items ahead of the 2026 primary. Cochair Henry Berger called the meeting to order and the board moved through unit updates before taking votes on vendor certifications, personnel, regulations and campaign finance ceilings.
Kristen Zabrowski Stavisky, co-executive director, led a lengthy operations update on ballot-access activity and system rollouts, including progress on online voter registration and the automatic voter registration clearinghouse. Election operations staff presented testing results that led the board to certify the ES&S 6.5.0.2.01 voting system (AutoMARK 2) and to adopt an ES&S electronic poll-book upgrade. On the regulatory front, counsel explained draft Part 62-25 to set statewide standards for ballot drop boxes; the board adopted the rule-making package to go out for the required 60-day public comment period. PCFB staff certified a $49,000,000 ceiling for public matching funds for the primary; that figure was described as a maximum estimate rather than an exact expenditure.
The meeting also included a personnel appointment: the board voted to appoint Christina Aspie as deputy counsel. Multiple staff offices—public information, IT, accessibility, grants, enforcement and compliance—reported on FOIL processing, vendor work with MTX on public reporting, accessibility survey status across counties, HAVA and absentee-postage grant balances, and ongoing cybersecurity coordination after a reported impersonation email that targeted the FVAP program.
