Fix NY law to let a failed candidate off the primary ballot (Your Letters) - syracuse.com
To the Editor:
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Ordinarily that is a wise choice for legislative bodies to make. But “if it is truly broken, why not fix it?” is an equally compelling political admonition. An electoral system which allows an office holder to resign from office when indicted, but at the same time, refuses to let that office holder resign from a candidacy is, let’s face it, irretrievably broken and in need of a fix (”Why will NY Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin likely remain on the ballot after resigning?,” April 12, 2022).
Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, whose courageous leadership I have often admired , is getting it wrong when she says, “I really, really, really don’t like to change rules in the middle of a process.” Why? Because the rules are broken, and need to be fixed. It is wrong for her and her colleagues to brush off a legislative fix in the lieutenant governor’s race as if it is just so much dandruff. It is not.
The failure of the law to allow for a failed candidate to terminate a failed candidacy is only serving to further muddy the murky waters of our primary for a statewide elective office. The choice, Sen. Stewart-Cousins, is whether to allow the murky waters to remain opaque, or to effect a change which will bring clarity to the governor’s race. Here is hoping you and your Senate confreres will step up to the plate, hold your noses and vote to fix the fixable election law glitch, so that we can move on to discuss the real issues in the governor’s race.
What say you, Sen. Stewart-Cousins? Turning a cold shoulder to election reform in New York is the wrong choice. Fixing what’s broken is the right one.
John T. Sullivan Jr.
Oswego
The writer is former co-chair of the New York state Democratic Party from 1993-97.
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source: https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2022/04/fix-ny-law-to-let-a-failed-candidate-off-the-primary-ballot-your-letters.html
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