Election mail from political rivals straddles the line

This campaign season brings its unique gimmicks and appeals, found in the piles of preelection partisan mail delivered to doors and clogging boxes.

One mail piece from state Democrats to get their vote out created a kerfuffle this week. Open an envelope and the recipient sees, adorned with the official-sounding title of “New York State Voter Assistance Program,” an offer to do absentee voting that’s “easy as 1-2-3.” You fill out the application on the reverse side and send it to the county board of elections, which mails you a ballot that you fill out and send back.

Providing these applications is legal. But what the party did in this mass mailing feels too cute by half. The forms here come with a crucial box checked off: the voter’s reason for the application.

There are six choices listed: absence from the home county on Election Day, temporary illness or physical disability/COVID-19 concerns, permanent disability, duties related to primary care of individuals who are ill or disabled, residence in a veterans’ hospital, or detention awaiting trial.

The forms sent by the state party pre-check the box that covers COVID. But what if you have another reason and wish to use this form? Should you find some Wite-Out and mark a different box before sending?

“No one should fill out that box but the voter who’s requesting,” said Nick Langworthy, chair of the New York State Republican Committee. He has a point, and his rivals in the leadership of the state Democratic Committee haven’t taken pains to rebut Langworthy’s complaint beyond underscoring how the targeted mailings break no rules.

As to the touted “voter assistance program,” Democratic defenders say their program is truly meant to assist. But it may be gratuitously misleading: An official Federal Voting Assistance Program exists to help those in the uniformed services and overseas voters exercise their right to vote. Why use a similar title?

While this is a campaign piece that sounds too official, there are also many official mailings that sound too promotional.

Last week, Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican running for governor, sent out a piece that proclaims in bright red type his “record of hard work and results on top local priorities for Long Island.”

Next to the addressee on the front is the necessary disclaimer that it’s “prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.” The material and timing seem to fit accepted practices in Congress. But this situation is unique: Zeldin is not running for reelection. Even though the mailing is written for the district he represented for four terms, can’t the current pieces really be seen as promoting his statewide run?

Nobody knows whether these clever mail strategies will make much difference in this big election. But candidates and parties owe it to the public to keep messaging candid — and voters can best serve themselves by noticing exactly what they’re getting in the mail.