BILL NUMBER: S6155

SPONSOR: BOYLE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to the definition of the
term party

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill sets the number of votes that must be received in the last
gubernatorial election that are needed for a political organization to
count as a party to 50,000 for all elections conducted on and after
January, 1, 2022.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Defines the term "party" as any political organization which
at the last preceding election for governor polled at least 50,000 votes
for its candidate for governor.

              

Section 2: Establishes effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill will undo the unnecessary and politically motivated changes to
the election law's treatment of third parties that were recommended by
the Campaign Finance Commission established as part of the 2019 budget.
The Campaign Finance Commission was established with the intent of
setting up a public financing system for New York State, but in the
course of doing so, this commission more than doubled the thresholds
that must be met by political organizations to automatically qualify to
be on the ballot in New York State elections form 50,000 to 130,000.

This recommendation, made under the pretense of facilitating the public
finance system, will actually just serve to further entrench the two
party rule that dominates US politics by indirectly ending the fusion
voting system in New York State. New York State is one of the last
bastions of fusion voting, a system which enables disaffected voters who
are dissatisfied with the two major parties to support a candidate with
a credible chance of winning on an alternative party.

This bill will return the party threshold to 50,000 votes and make null
the sections of the Campaign Finance Commission report that change the
definition of "party". This will protect the status of these third
parties and so preserve the important fusion voting system in New York
State.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S.7675 - Referred to Elections

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.