This year, Suffolk County (New York) voters on Long Island will have a choice of District Attorney Thomas Spota on the Democrat line. Or they could vote for Republican Thomas Spota. If you detect a pattern here. you are right. The other two countywide elected officials up for reelection this year, Republican County Treasurer Angie Carpenter and Democrat Sheriff Vincent DeMarco have the endorsement of the major parties. As for the "official" alternative parties (Conservative, Independence and Workng Families) all but DeMarco have the endorsements of the Little Three. What is this but a cartel arrangement?
The Libertarian Party sought to contest this election and offer Suffolk’s overtaxed and overregulated a choice. The Libertarians nominated Christopher Garvey for District Attorney, Audrey Capozzi for Treasurer and Steve Kosin for Sheriff.
Their petitions were challenged by a member of the Democrat Party’s State Committee, a former employee of the Board of Elections, and former Democrat candidate for office. On Friday September 4th, the petition objections were sustained by the Suffolk County Board of Election without specifying their findings with regard to any particular objection. The Libertarian candidates will decide whether to go to court. The Board of Elections is composed solely of representatives of the Democrat and Republican Parties. Isn’t this inherently unfair?
"We will have a Soviet-style ballot in Suffolk," charges Libertarian D.A.candidate Chris Garvey. (Full disclosure: Christopher Garvey is my friend and I managed his 1998 campaign for Governor).
What I do not understand is why the Democrats would even bother? There is no competition in these races.
The current and former occupants of the office of Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell) have condemned the restriction of ballot access by the Iranian authorities of challengers to the Islamic Republic conservatives. Others have joined them in this criticism.
Is New York’s byzantine election law all that different than Iran’s in restricting voter choice by keeping inconvenient candidates off the ballot? -30-
(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 www.lp.org on eminent domain and other issues. He was chair of the Libertarian Party of New York www.ny.lp.org.)