Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party, has proposed raising the number of votes that a political party needs to guarantee a spot on the ballot in the next election, from 50,000 to roughly 250,000, according to the New York Times on October 29, 2019.
The chairman of the New York State Democratic Party is pushing a proposal that would essentially neuter almost all third parties, crippling one of Governor Cuomo’s political nemeses, but also potentially helping conservatives.
The proposal from the chairman, Jay Jacobs, would quintuple the number of votes that a political party needs to guarantee a spot on the ballot in the next election. A party currently needs 50,000 votes for its candidate for Governor to secure a spot for the next four years.
Raising the vote threshold to 250,000 would make it extremely difficult for the Libertarian Party of New York to be a recognized party. The LPNY garnered ballot access for the first time in party history last November, when candidate for Governor Larry Sharpe received over 95,000 votes. Under current law, to retain ballot access in New York, the 2022 candidate for Governor must get at least 50,000 votes.
Click here to read the full article at the New York Times.
