New York may have been able to Remove some Third Parties Off the Ballot, but Minor Party Leaders say the Political Arena hasn’t seen the last of them.
The Green, Independence, and Libertarian, Parties, All Failed to get the Number of Votes necessary to Maintain Ballot Access, and the recently Created Serve America Movement (SAM) Party did Not Run a Presidential Candidate, pulling Four Minor Parties Off the Ballot in New York.
In 2020, the Legislature Changed the Party Qualifing Rules from 50,000 Votes for Governor, to 130,000 or 2% of the Vote, which ever is Higher, for President or Governor.
The 2020 Presidental Election, in New York, had 6,684,843 Total Votes, so to Qualify, a Party needs 133,697 Votes.
In 2021, the New York Qualified Parties, in Ballot Line Order are:
Democratic Party: 3,404,361
Republican Party: 2,592,986
Working Families Party: 294,271
Conservative Party: 257,775
Lost Ballot Line::
Libertarian Party: 47,919
Green Party: 23,339
Independence Party: 17,711
SAM Party: No President Candidate, so 0
The Case before the Manhattan Federal Court of Appeals got to the Constitutional Question for which there is only One Answer: Can New York State force Political Parties to Endorse Candidates for President or Face Extinction?
Of course Not, but that’s just what Albany wants to do, and what Appeals Judges, Robert Sack, Michael Park, and Steven Menashi, must Prevent.
The Serve America Movement Party (SAM) focuses on Local Concerns and won a Ballot Line Fair and Square when its Gubernatorial Contender Earned sufficient Votes at the last Governor Election. But New York's Legislators decided that they didn’t like Small Parties. Gov. Cuomo (D) has long had it in for the Working Families Party, and wrote a Law dictating that All Parties must also clear a Presidential Minimum Tally from New York Voters to get or keep their Ballot Ststus.
The Working Families and Conservative Parties survived the Assassination attempt, but under the Bad New Rules, SAM will be No More. That’s because it doesn’t Run Presidential Candidates or Endorse other Parties’ Standard-Bearers for National Office, thru Fusion Voting, which rendered its Ballot Line Blank.
New York is One of a Small Number of States that Allows a Practice called Fusion Voting. This allows Political Parties, the Conservative and Working Families Parties, for example, Cross-Endorse Major Party Candidates. The Conservative Party traditionally Cross-Endorses Republican Candidates and the Working Families Cross-Endorses Democrate Candidates.
In 2021, New York City is to start using Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) for: Special Elections, the First in Feb. and Citywide Primaries in June. Now there will be Less Candidates to Rank.
UPDATE from Richard Winger of Ballot Access News:
On Tuesday, December 15, the Second Circuit heard oral argument in SAM Party v Cuomo, 20-3047. The three judges on the case are Robert D. Stack (Clinton appointee), Michael H. Park (Trump appointee), and Steven J. Menashi (Trump appointee).
The hearing lasted 30 minutes. Anyone can hear the argument at this link. Choose “archive of audio oral arguments”. The SAM argument is the only case argued on December 15, so it is easy to find the link if one knows that date.
The state made several arguments that are factually incorrect. The attorney for the state said that Maryland is a state that requires a party to poll a certain share of the vote for president in order to retain its party status. This is not correct. In Maryland, a party with a certain registration remains permanently on the ballot, whether it runs for president or not. Furthermore, Maryland has a party petition, and if it is circulated in a presidential year, the party then enjoys qualified status for the next two elections; therefore it need not run for president in order to remain on the ballot.
The attorney for the state also said that a state has an interest in testing the viability of a party every two years, and because there is sometimes no U.S. Senate election in New York (as was the case in 2020), the state must use the vote for president to determine whether a party should remain on the ballot. He said, “It’s the only test available.” In reality, a state can use a registration test, or test of whether the party continues to be organized, or a test of how many nominees for all office a party chooses to run.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment