The Green Party of Suffolk Applauds Actions Taken Against Election Petition Fraud; Calls for Changes in Election Law
*For Immediate Release
The Green Party of Suffolk County is pleased to see actions taken by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office to investigate and charge individuals accused of fraudulently collecting Green Party petitions. Elections are the foundation of our democracy, and the means by which they are conducted must be beyond reproach. We call for changes that would reduce the risk of such actions taking place again and for making the Suffolk County Board of Elections more representative of and responsible to all voters.
New York State is one of only eight states that allows candidates to run on multiple party lines in a process known as “fusion voting.” The chance to be listed on multiple party lines provides an incentive for candidates and their supporters to attempt to claim the lines of other parties with or without the knowledge of those other parties, and potentially to seek those lines in unethical or illegal ways. Cross-endorsements and the stealing of party lines under fusion voting, which disproportionately hurt minor parties and distort elections, must end in New York State.
“While we are happy DA Timothy Sini’s office investigated the complaints we made earlier this year,” said Pauline Salotti, chairwoman of the Green Party of Suffolk, “to prevent this from happening in the future, New York State needs to end fusion voting.”
Another needed change is in the way the county Boards of Election (BOE) in NYS are formed and run. Currently, Democratic and Republican party committees are allowed to name the BOE commissioners, who in turn are permitted to hire the clerks, machine technicians, and other employees as political appointments, a process that is claimed to provide “equal representation of the major political parties.” While established as a “bipartisan” agency, the BOE in Suffolk County functions as a partisan agency when we consider that the number of voters enrolled in minor parties or in no party is greater than the number of voters enrolled in either the Republican or Democratic party. The Suffolk County Board of Elections must cease to operate as a partisan agency with its employees beholden to the two major parties for their jobs. Voters registered with minor parties and with no party must receive representation on the Suffolk BOE. At a minimum, Suffolk County should immediately add a commissioner, as allowed by election law, chosen by and representative of the minor parties. The need for such representation is shown by the fact that two of those accused of petition fraud are employees of the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
Bringing an end to fusion voting in New York State and creating a more representative and less partisan Board of Elections in Suffolk County are two critical steps toward restoring the integrity of our election processes in New York State.
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Marisa Pizza
Press Secretary
Green Party of Suffolk