Marc Molinaro, the Republican candidate for governor, has requested a state ethics probe of Gov. Cuomo for sending out a taxpayer-funded mailer that urges residents to vote but also gives a plug to the governor as he runs for re-election.

The Post first reported on the controversial mailer on Thursday.

“Register to vote. It’s easier than ever. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is expanding access and opportunity to New Yorkers to register to vote,” said the mailer.

Molinaro sent a letter to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the state Board of Elections and the Department of Motor Vehicles to investigate whether tax dollars are being misused for political purposes.

“With less than 100 days until the primary election this may be a clear violation and, at least, is an abuse of taxpayer resources for campaign political purposes,” Molinaro said in the letter, which includes a copy of The Post’s story.

Cuomo’s Democratic primary rival, Cynthia Nixon, also questioned how public funds could be used to promote the governor three months before Election Day.

“Not only is this a gross abuse of state funds, but it’s untrue,” she said.

“Cuomo makes it incredibly difficult for New Yorkers to register to vote and to cast their ballots. New York is just one of 13 states that doesn’t have early voting, and the deadline to change party registration for the upcoming primary election was a whopping 11 months prior on October 13, 2017 — locking out 3.6 million registered unaffiliated voters in New York.”

Susan Learner, executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause, slammed the Cuomo-friendly mailer as “misleading” and inappropriate.

“How can Governor Cuomo say that it’s easier to vote in New York when he and the legislature have failed, year after year, to pass common sense election reforms like early voting, and automatic voter registration? Not only is this mailer misleading, it’s a questionable use of tax dollars to promote the Governor’s re-election,” Lerner said.

A Cuomo spokesman has defended the mailers.

“We believe that breaking down barriers to voting access is critical to any democracy, which is why the Governor launched New York’s first online voting registration site in 2012 and signed an executive order more than a year ago mandating that state agencies engage in outreach to increase voter participating,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi when The Post first raised the issue.

“This notice stems from this order. The language in the mailing is purely informational, was vetted by counsel and is within all applicable rules and guidelines,” he said.