New York, and half the other states, permit independent candidates to choose a partisan label that may be printed on the ballot next to the independent candidate’s name. The other states confine independent candidates to just the word “independent.”
In 2005, Jimmy McMillan ran as an independent candidate for Mayor of New York city, with the ballot label “Rent is Too Damn High.” This year, McMillan again petitioned successfully for a place on the ballot, and he asked for the same label. But the New York City Board of Elections told him his label cannot be longer than 15 letters. When he didn’t respond, the Board on its own motion printed “Rent is Too High.” McMillan is asking the Board to change that to “Rent is 2 Damn High”, but since the absentee ballots have already been printed, the Board will probably refuse to alter the label. See this New York Times story.
How many letters for a personal name are permitted in New York? 15? I won’t check the phone book for you, but there must be hundreds or thousands of people with LAST names longer than fifteen letters. If your last name is Li, why can’t you use the rest of the space for your political identifier? Electioneering is not for the logical.
When did this ‘rule’ go into effect?
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