Hawkins in Antarctica
Syracuse Post-Standard Editorial
November 7th, 2007
If you successfully voted for Howie Hawkins for Syracuse Common Council Tuesday, we congratulate you.
You deserve credit not simply because you voted for a candidate we believe could have brought an important, community-based perspective to the council, but because you were actually able to find him on the ballot.
Hawkins ran on the Green Party line -in fact he was the only Green party candidate on the city ballot. Because the party did not get at least 50,000 votes in the last gubernatorial election, it is not a recognized party in New York. Therefore it was placed below the recognized parties, which included not only Democrats and Republicans but the Independence, Conservative and Working Families parties.
The Greens then had to compete with two other non-recognized parties - "A Fresh Start," Joanie Mahoney's second party line, and "It's Your County," Ed Ryan's independent line. Because those candidates were both running countywide races, their parties were place above the Greens, who ran only a citywide race.
Thus, Hawkins' name could be found in Antarctica - under a swath of white space, on Row H. Not surprisingly, he pulled in a measly percent of the vote.
As expected, the two at-large seats were won handily by incumbent councilors Bill Ryan and Kathleen Joy, whose names could be found both on Row A (Democratic) and Row E (Working Families), not to mention a bonus Bill Ryan sighting on Row C (Independence). Both will continue to serve the city well, but without the spark Hawkins could have added.
Would Hawkins have won if his name had been more visible on the ballot? Highly unlikely. Still, is it fair that voters had to conduct a search-and-rescue mission simply to find his lever?