Senate Bill S1031

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1031

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

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

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to return to the original definition
of "party" so that smaller parties may have a place on general election
ballots and that voters will have freedom to choose a party that best
aligns with their political views.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of Section 1-104 of the Election Law to
define "party" as any political organization which at the last preceding
election for governor polled at least fifty thousand votes for its
candidate for governor.

Section 2 is the effective date.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Changing the vote threshold to be considered a "party" from 50,000 votes
to 130,000 votes is detrimental and threatens our democracy.  New York-
ers value political debate about issues large and small, and they should
have the opportunity to cast their ballot for a political party that
best reflects their views. By creating an extremely challenging base-
line, important voices in our political system will be stifled.

In addition, changes to the electoral process of our state are matters
that should be handled independently and as stand-alone items. They
should not be thrust into the budget process where a multitude of issues
are handled. Actions like putting this issue into a budget bill has
caused many New Yorkers to wonder why the state government, in an almost
covert way, wants to make it harder for differing political opinions to
be heard.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: S.1980 - Referred to Elections

2019-2020: S.8241 - Referred to Elections

 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.