In a not unexpected but still depressing and infuriating story, North Country Public Radio's blog is reporting that Libertarian Eric Sundwall has been kicked off the ballot for what the Associated Press called 'technical issues.'
The disgraceful enemies of democracy like the dishonorable Don Neddo (who's already been forced to admit that he lied repeatedly in public about his non-military service) have prevailed in their quest to disenfranchise myself and thousands of other citizens. So he's not just a liar, he's a thief too.
Those who succeeded in their anti-democratic efforts were high-ranking members of the Conservative Party, which endorsed Tedisco. According to Planet Albany blog, the scum were represented by expert election lawyer John Ciampoli, who has long worked for the Senate Republicans and in 2006 knocked a potential opponent to Joe Bruno off the ballot.
Planet Albany also posted a video of Ciampoli addressing a state Conservative Party conference last year.
I doubt Tedisco explicitly told anyone to challenge anything. It didn't need to be said. This sort of thing is understood. It's no coincidence that a Republican-affiliated lawyer was hired by the people who endorsed Tedisco to head this 'legal' challenge. I agree with The Post-Star and others that the only people who should be allowed to challenge petitions are other candidates. They shouldn't be able to hide behind henchmen and then claim they had no involvement. Tedisco, who repeatedly pats himself on the back as a 'fighter,' should've had the cajones to challenge the petitions himself.
Even if you exclude the disqualified signatures (and I don't know what dubious nature was used to exclude them), Sundwall still had something like 2900 valid signatures.
Murphy was put on the ballot by a handful of Democratic committee members.
Tedisco was put on the ballot by three or four GOP party bosses.
Only in the corrupt world of New York election law is 4 > 2900.
If you must vote for someone on the ballot, then vote for Democrat Scott Murphy, as his supporters were not involved in this contemptible scheme. Nevertheless, I'd still urge you to write-in Sundwall or Anthony Cerro.
I apologize for the strong language but I can't really express how much I resent these shameless henchmen subverting democracy and denying me and thousands of other people the chance to vote for a valid candidate. If Neddo or any of the other enemies of democracy are reading this, you can go (expletive deleted) yourself. I've pulled the lever on the Conservative ballot line occasionally in the past but I guarantee you I'll never do it again.
Update: The Times-Union has detailed some of the horrible things done by Sundwall petitionees to get their signatures voided and their voices silenced. Board of Elections staff threw out 3,786 of the signatures Sundwall's campaign collected, almost entirely because the petitions were not technically correct as when a voter listed his mailing address instead of his town, for example. If this is how 'democracy' works, I hope the Afghans and Iraqis are NOT paying attention.
Further update: While the state Board of Elections has knocked Sundwall off the ballot, apparently the case is being heard by a Supreme Court justice. More on this as details emerge.
The arcane, outdated, and outrageous New York Election Laws have to change.
ReplyDeleteUnder the current laws, third party and independent candidates for public office have to bear a far greater burden than do the candidates of the two major parties in attaining ballot access.
Year after year, cycle after cycle, the voters are denied the opportunity to vote for some of the best candidates because they are not members of the two major parties in New York.
These types of “laws” are common in third world nations where candidate suppression runs parallel to voter suppression. But in New York? Why?
Example: Running for Congress - Major party candidates have to gather 1,250 signatures from their party members. Third party or Independent candidates have to get 3,500 and most often they are challenged and thrown out.
I was one of the fortunate independents who made it onto the ballot in 2004 after my party petitions for the Democratic party were challenged. I know the system is rigged and so does everyone who runs, everyone who challenges, and everyone who throws candidates off the ballot.
Eric Sundwall submitted over 7,000 signatures to be on the ballot in the upcoming Special Election on March 31st . Using arcane and little know regulations the powers that be were able to squeeze out over 4,000 of those signatures.
How outrageous is it to tell over 4,000 people that their signature don’t count and they stand for nothing?
The Assembly and Senate must review and reform these laws that, in fact, work against the good of the people of our state.
Morris Guller
Lexington, New York