New York City Initiative Submitted to Alter Elections for City Office

Posted on by July 7, 2026
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On July 2, an initiative petition was submitted to the New York City Clerk. The initiative would eliminate party nominees in elections for city office. Instead, the city would hold nonpartisan elections in June, with party labels permitted. If no one got 50%, there would be a runoff in November for the top three finishers, using ranked choice voting.

The group submitted approximately 45,000 signatures. The requirement is 30,000 signatures. Now the city council will decide whether to put the initiative on the ballot. If the city council declines, initiative supporters can then collect another 15,000 valid signatures and bypass the city council. See this story.

Currently, all of the largest cities in the United States use completely nonpartisan elections for their own officers, except for New York city and Philadelphia.

Hearing Set in New Hampshire Ballot Access Case

Posted on by July 7, 2026
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On July 15, a U.S. District Court will hear Day v New Hampshire Secretary of State, 1:26cv-499. This is the case over whether New Hampshire can block an independent candidate for U.S. Senate on the grounds that he hadn’t updated his voter registration address as of the day he filed his declaration of candidacy. Aaron Day argues that states cannot keep congressional candidates off the ballot for reasons related to voter registration, given the U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Term Limits v Thornton decision. That decision said states can’t add to the constitutional qualifications for congressional candidates.