There were two news stories about elections in New York. One pleased me greatly, while the other mildly surprised me.
ITEM: Judge Tosses a New York Law That Moved Many Local Elections to Even-Numbered Years. “A law moving many town and county elections in New York to even-numbered years to align them with state and federal races was struck down by a state judge, providing a win to Republicans who claimed it was a partisan effort by Democrats to gain an electoral edge.
“Sponsors of the bill approved by the Democrat-led state Legislature last year said they wanted to shift elections for town supervisor, county executive, and some other local posts from odd-numbered years to reduce confusion and increase voter turnout. Republicans denounced the law as an effort to move local elections to higher-turnout presidential election years, which could favor Democrats.”
Judge Gerard Neri wrote in his ruling that the law conflicts with individual county charters. Moreover, “the Even Year Election Law would effectively double the size of a ballot and could lead to voter confusion and also a drop off in the voter participation for down-ballot races and referendums.”
As I wrote last year, before Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the legislation, I HATED the new legislation. A local race can’t get the oxygen a federal or statewide gets. I support the judge’s ruling.
Independent
ITEM: “One in four registered active voters in New York do not belong to a political party, according to the most recent registration data collected by the Times Union.” This follows a national trend that’s been taking place for over a decade.
Interestingly, the state has one of the most restrictive primary voting policies. If you’re a non-affiliated voter, i.e., not a Democrat or Republican or registered in one of the two recognized minor parties, Conservative and Working Families, you don’t get to vote in primaries. I have always been registered as a Democrat because not voting in a primary would disenfranchise me.
In June 2024, there was the primary for an open seat in the New York State Assembly, the 109th AD; the person who won the primary, Gabriella Romero with 30.1% of vote against five opponents, is almost certain to be elected in November. Likewise, the mayor of Albany is up next in 2025, and the winner of the Democratic primary will almost certainly become mayor five months later.
Ballot access
Moreover, the Empire State has continually eroded ballot access in recent years. From Ballotopedia: On October 19, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the ballot access laws passed in New York in 2020. The Libertarian Party sued the New York State Board of Elections over these laws on July 28, 2020, calling them unconstitutional thresholds enacted to keep minor parties off of the ballot. A U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the New York State Board of Elections in 2021, and the Second Circuit upheld that ruling.
Provisions of the 2020 ballot access laws include the following:
- Increasing the statewide independent petition from 15,000 to 45,000 signatures.
- Changing the definition of a qualified party from a group that polls at least 50,000 votes for governor to one that polls 2% for the office at the top of the ticket every two years. In 2020, 2% was 172,337 votes.
- Retaining a six-week petitioning period, increasing the distribution requirement, and retaining a ban on anyone signing two petitions for the same office.
- Lacking any procedure for a group to transform itself into a qualified party in advance of an election–something that exists in 39 states.
Minor parties, such as the Green Party and the aforementioned Libertarian Party, have had a much tougher time getting their candidates on the ballot. Also, the Conservatives and the Working Families folks have some incentive to cross-endorse a Republican or Democrat.
New York State often does not have a very democratic process.
