What's happening
This bill requires local election boards to verify party enrollment and reject petitions if no party members are in a district.
Why it matters
Prevents “paper parties” or phantom nominations. By requiring local election boards to verify that a political party actually has enrolled members within a district, this bill aims to stop candidates from running under the banner of parties that have no real presence or support in that area.
May limit access for new or minor parties. This verification can make it more difficult for new, smaller, or third parties to get on the ballot in certain districts if they have not yet registered members there, potentially reinforcing the dominance of established parties.
Increases transparency and integrity of the petition process. Voters and officials gain greater assurance that petitions submitted for party nominations actually reflect support from real, registered party members, helping to prevent manipulation of the electoral process.
Could impact local political strategies. Parties and candidates may need to focus more on building genuine membership bases in each district, rather than relying on technicalities or cross-district organizational tactics to secure ballot access.
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Who cares
Local boards of elections
They would have to verify party enrollment in the relevant districts and reject petitions where the party has no enrolled members.
Candidates filing petitions
Their petitions would face rejection in districts with no enrolled members of their party, even if otherwise properly formatted and apparently supported by enough authenticated signatures.
Political party committees
They would need to account for district enrollment when organizing petition efforts because petitions would be rejected where their party has no enrolled members.
Headline styles
Verify Party Enrollment Numbers
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to election law
- Referred to election law
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3181
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring the local boards of election to verify the number of enrolled members of a party in such districts and reject all petitions where there are no enrolled members of a party in such districts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 6-154 of the election law is amended to read as follows:
1. Any petition filed with the officer or board charged with the duty of receiving it shall be presumptively valid if it is in proper form and appears to bear the requisite number of signatures, authenticated in a manner prescribed by this chapter, provided, however, that the local board verifies the number of enrolled members of a party in such districts and rejects all petitions where there are no enrolled members of such party in such districts.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06549-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.