Bill De Blasio, New York city councilmember who is trying to get on the Democratic primary in September 2009 for New York City Public Advocate, has won a rehearing in the City Board of Elections. It is set for 1:30 pm on Tuesday, July 28. The Board removed him because his cover sheet says he submitted 131 volumes of petitions, but actually he submitted 132 volumes.
The Board of Elections is in a difficult spot. On the one hand the law is obviously foolish to keep a candidate off the ballot for such a trivial error, especially since he might win the primary if he is on the ballot. On the other hand, the law (unwise though it is) is clear, and if the Board grants him an exemption, it knows that it won’t be able to keep candidates off in the future if they make entry errors on their cover sheets. De Blasio has already filed a lawsuit against the Board of Elections, which will be pursued if the Board doesn’t put him on the ballot. No one seems to have thought about whether De Blasio would be willing to be a write-in candidate if he is ultimately kept off the September primary ballot.
UPDATE: the lawsuit will be heard Monday, August 3, unless the Board puts him back on the ballot. The case is De Blasio v Board of Elections, state supreme court, Manhatten, 09-1105-09.
ALL steps in election laws, especially, are supposed to be YES or NO — i.e. about ZERO *discretion* stuff.
Times, places, what, how, etc.
Otherwise C-H-A-O-S — prime example Florida 2000 Bush v. Gore — NO definition of a *legal* vote in the infamous now dead punchcard voting systems.
The Congress party hacks had to actually pass a law (HAVA) requiring the MORON State legislatures to have a definition of a legal vote with the various New Age MORON voting systems — the legal monument to the 2000 MORONS in the ENTIRE FL regime – legislative, executive and judicial.