Nassau County, New York county legislator Roger Corbin (Democrat-Westbury) will face a primary opponent in September as his effort failed to challenge the petition signatures of North Hempstead Town Councilman Robert Troiano. http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/corbin-fails-to-kick-challenger-off-ballot-1.1373366
Corbin failed to file objections in the period specified by New York State Election Law. This is hard to understand. General objections can be filed with specific objections to follow.
Corbin, a regional manager for the government-owned Off-Track Betting Corporation (OTB) is under indictment for his involvement in the New Cassel Revitalization, an urban renewal scheme. http://groundreport.com/articles.php?id=2903996 "Indicted Legislator Seeks Reelection." Corbin took 81 checks from a developer and deposited them in his account. He is charged with lying to investigators and tax evasion. He has not been charged with bribery or extortion.
New York election law is very unfair putting a burden on challengers that is very high. This is especially true for those who are not part of the old political parties. Petition signatures can be disqualified for many reasons such as: Full legal name missing, PO Box instead of street address, or missing town or city. Town or city does not mean what you think it does. For example, the hamlet of New Cassel is an unincorporated area in the Town of North Hempstead. The post office is Westbury. If only the name, signature and address in New Cassel (Westbury) were shown and not the Town of North Hempstead as well, the signature would be disqualified even though the signer was a currently enrolled voter.
Independent petitions must submit many more signatures than the old parties. For example, if I wanted to challenge Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy in a major party, I would need to submit at least 1250 signatures. But if I wanted to run as a Libertarian, I would need 3500 signatures! I would like to see New York allow the payment of a modest filing fee instead of submission of signatures. California and other states have such provisions.
While it is good to see that Corbin will face primary competition in his heavily Democrat district, it would be better if his competitor questioned the New Cassel scheme from his post on the North Hempstead council and if he had Republican, Green and Libertarian Party competition. -30-
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About the author: Richard Cooper is an international trade executive with a manufacturing firm on Long Island, New York, USA. He is active in the Libertarian Party on eminent domain and other issues. He was chair of the Libertarian Party of New York www.ny.lp.org
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