New York Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow has introduced A4046, to change the definition of a qualified political party from a group that polls 50,000 votes for Governor, to a group that polls 100,000 votes for Governor. The bill, if enacted and in effect right now, would remove the Green Party from the ballot. Assemblymember Pretlow is a Democrat from Mt. Vernon. He has introduced similar bills in past sessions of the legislature.
how about voter enrollments for a change — with non-enrolleds getting major “party” commissioner status for top two enrollment?
“The bill, if enacted and in effect right now, would remove the Green Party from the ballot.”
How could they apply this retro-actively? Wouldn’t this be an ex post facto law, which is unconstitutional?
I would think that the Green Party would be grandfathered in until the next election if this were to pass.
Andy, I think he is saying that if this was existing law, the Green Party would not have remained qualified after the last election.
Either way, it seems as though as Pretlow (or perhaps most of or the entire NY Democrat party) could be on some kind of vendetta against the NY Green Party. Typical suppression tactics from a major party if that is the case. I hope for the NY Green Party’s sake, and for democracy’s sake as well, that his bill fails to become law again.
#2 ex post facto stuff ONLY applies to criminal stuff.
There is no need to have pre-qualified parties under Top 2. A candidate simply files for office and pays a filing fee or a petition.
If you wanted to let party registrants endorse a candidate, have them file a separate petition with more signatures. So Andrew Cuomo would file to run for governor. Then some number of electors (1098?) affiliated with the Democratic Party could sign a petition of endorsement. Similarly, voters affiliated with the Green, Independence, Working Family, and Republican parties could file similar petitions. It would be Cuomo’s decision whether he wished the endorsements to appear on the ballot.
There would be no restriction on the number of endorsing petitions filed by members of a party. “Green” on a ballot would mean 1098 or more Green Party voters had signed a petition endorsing the named candidate.
@6 There is no need to have pre-qualified parties under “top-two” because “top-two” ends free elections in America.
Therefore no candidate, other than those approved by the single, state-controlled party that controls access to the single primary, will be allowed appear on the general election ballot.
“Top-two” is designed and intended to create a one-party state and end free elections as in the old USSR – and remember, they often allowed the “top-two” to appear in the USSR, just as Riley wants here.