Eases Party Switches, Offers Public Financing
Hoping to avoid repeats of the kind of political scandals that rocked the state in recent weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver unveiled last week proposals aimed at making statewide elections more equal and changing how campaigns are financed.
Cuomo’s legislation would create an independent enforcement unit to investigate and potentially prosecute individuals and organizations for alleged violations of election law. Those responsibilities currently fall to the state Board of Elections, but the governor charged that the board has been “ineffective” at investigating possible wrongdoing.
The governor’s proposal also calls for an end of requirements under the Wilson-Pakula election law of 1948 in which a registered member of one party looking to run for the nomination of another party for a New York City public office must secure written consent from that party’s county chairs. Additionally, the bill would make it easier for voters to switch parties in order to participate in their new party’s primaries.
“Our state’s election system must promote a fair, democratic process that ensures that voices of New York’s voters are heard loud and clear and voters have real choices in an election,” Cuomo said in a statement last Tuesday, Apr. 16. “The reforms we are proposing today will help prevent corruption and strengthen our democracy by ensuring that candidates need not bankroll their way onto other parties’ ballots and giving voters the ability to change their party registration and vote in a primary in the same year.
The proposed changes to the Wilson Pakula law come in the wake of the scandal surrounding State Sen. Malcolm Smith, City Council Member Daniel Halloran and two Republican Party bosses in New York City who were arrested earlier this month by federal law enforcement agents for various charges of corruption.
As previously reported, Smith-a Democrat who had expressed an interest in running for mayor this year as a Republican-allegedly worked to bribe the Republican party bosses into signing “Wilson-Pakula certificates” which would allow him a spot on the Republican mayoral primary ballot. Halloran is accused of negotiating the terms of the bribes and accepting a finder’s fee for his efforts.
The system as it currently stands, according to the governor’s office, “has led to both actual corruption and the appearance of corruption, as candidates have used the promise of contributions and fund-raising efforts to persuade party leaders to grant such permission.”
The proposal, if enacted, would end the Wilson-Pakula certificate requirements. Anyone interested in running on a party ballot for a local or statewide office-regardless of party affiliation-must instead collect enough signatures of registered voters on petitions to qualify for the ballot.
Additionally, the bill would require the Board of Elections to enact any party affiliation changes submitted by voters within three months after receiving the application. Currently, voters who change parties must wait until after the next general election in order for their switch to take effect.
Under the proposed change, voters would be able to vote in their new party’s primary provided they have submitted their application no later than three months before the contest.
Campaign finance reform
Last Tuesday, Silver also unveiled an amended version of the 2013 Fair Elections Act, which would create a public campaign financing system for those running for all statewide office, legislative offices and constitutional convention delegates within five years.
If approved, the state would create a Fair Elections Board to oversee campaign finance regulations as well as the New York State Campaign Finance Fund, which would be created to provide matching funds to candidates who participate in the program.
Those candidates who meet necessary requirements and reach certain eligibility requirements would be eligible to receive from the state $6 for every dollar they raise on contributions of up to $250. The candidates must secure most of these donors from within their district.
Private contributions of up to $2,000 can be accepted by a candidate also receiving public funds, but the bill mandates that the state will only match up to the first $250 raised.
Participants in the public campaign funding program must also agree to participate in at least two debates: one before the primary election and the other before the general election. These debates will be open to all candidates on the ballot.
Candidates who decline to accept public matching funds for their campaigns will still be required to current disclosure requirements and contribution limitations.
The New York State Campaign Finance Fund would be fueled through $5 contributions from taxpayers who check off a box that would be included on state tax returns and through a 10 percent surcharge on money recovered by the state in cases of fiscal fraud related to stocks, bonds and securities.
Should the fund run short, the bill would allow for the state to use cash from its general fund to meet the shortfall.
If enacted, the campaign finance system would be phased in over the next three statewide election cycles. In 2014, candidates in the state comptroller’s race would be eligible to participate, followed two years later by all state legislative candidates. Finally, in 2018, all statewide candidates and those seeking to become constitutional delegates will be permitted to take part in the program.
Additionally, political action committees which publish and air political advertisements for or against a certain candidate would be required to disclose to voters their affiliation. Silver noted that this requirement is similar to one under federal law.
These committees would also be mandated to submit disclosure forms to the state Board of Elections and file required financial disclosure reports so the public can know how the committees are being funded.
