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Capital Confidential:
Ballot Rules Irk Greens
Albany Times Union |
Rumblings after the Nov. 7 elections indicated the Green Party might try to turn its performance this year into a court battle to overturn an election law that many say is crafted to protect New York's two main political parties.
But one expert said the party might do better to petition the Legislature to change the law or wait a few more years before pushing the issue in court.
What's irking the Green Party is the law that allows parties to get automatic listing on ballots if -- and only if -- their candidate for governor gets 50,000 votes. The chance comes along only once every four years. Without the automatic line, candidates have to petition their way on to the ballot.
The Greens are especially sore this year because they reached more than 50,000 votes in several statewide races -- but not the governor's contest. Still-unofficial totals even put Julia Willebrand, who was running for comptroller, at 108,000 votes. But the Green candidate for governor, Malachy McCourt, got only 40,351 votes.
Some in the party have talked about going to court to argue that the law is unconstitutional and that other statewide races should be considered. Others suggest New York, like some states, should base the threshold on a percentage of the vote, not a hard number that is difficult to attain when turnout is low.
"The governor's race is the most difficult to get that vote, and the hardest for people to move away from the major parties," said Alison Duncan, McCourt's runningmate for lieutenant governor.
Duncan argues that picking someone other than a Democrat or Republican at the top of the ticket is a more "emotional" thing, and that many voters have a natural desire to be part of a "winning team" in the top race.
But suing on the basis of the latest election probably won't fly in court, said Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, a publication that watches the issue nationwide. Courts have upheld even tougher restrictions than New York's, such as Florida's definition of a qualified party: one that has gotten a candidate elected U.S. president. Florida candidates can petition their way onto ballots, but more than 196,000 signatures are required in statewide races.
"There's just no good precedent," Winger said.
That's not to say there is no hope, he added. The Legislature might be persuaded, for example, to allow parties to qualify for an automatic line at any time, provided they enroll a minimum number of people, which is done in 39 states.
Or the party might wait until the 2008 election and try for 50,000 votes on the presidential line. A court, he said, might see that as stronger proof of the party's viability than a comptroller's race.
For now, the Greens are mulling their options, said co-chair Gloria Mattera. They may go the legislative route, wait for 2008 or get a lawyer and go to court in 2007.
"It's kind of all up for discussion," Mattera said. "We don't have to rush into this, and that's a good thing." |
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 *Website by David Doonan, Labor Donated to Hawkins for Senate Campaign* |
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