Just a few weeks ago, the local election year got underway with party nominating meetings. Now, the next big step toward the November balloting is underway. Bill Carey says if you're not a politician you probably are unaware , until a knock on your door, that petitioning season has begun
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Each year, the parade of politicians begins at local boards of election. They come bearing signatures on petitions that they hope will qualify them for a ballot position.
This is the week that that signature collection effort gets underway as local candidates seeking anything from a handful to a thousand names.
"Depending on what party you're running for and what position you're running for depends on how many signatures. That petition process. We have several petition processes, but the main one started this Tuesday and it will run until July 9," said county Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny.
There have been episodes in the past where candidates have been stopped dead in their tracks by mistakes on the petitions -- mistakes that disqualify their effort.
"Most of the time challenges are due to sloppy petitioning. People don't go door-to-door to registered voters or to the registered voters in those parties. For the most part, if they follow the list the Board of Elections gives them they're gong to be OK," said Czarny.
But the parties often go to court, challenging all sorts of technical violations, in order to avoid primary battles or to limit ballot lines for opposition candidates.
"You take a look at the petitions and you want to do what's right for the endorsed candidate of your party. And you review them. If there's not the appropriate number of signatures, you file challenges with the Board of Elections and, if you feel you need a further redress with it, you go to a court to get it taken care of," said Onondaga County Republican Chairman Thomas Dadey.
But winning those exclusion battles has become more difficult in recent years because of new interpretation of election law.
"Even though you do see cases of challenges each year -- remember that's one or two cases -- when you have 50, 60, 70 offices up across the county. So, it's still rare that somebody's thrown off the ballot," Czarny said.
"Ballot access has been easier to obtain for candidates over the last several years with recent court rulings. So, it might be a little easier to get on the ballot and not have it tossed out, necessarily, on a technicality," Dadey said.
The Board of Elections now waits for those candidates to return with their petitions. They have more than a month to make sure that they get it right.