ELECTIONS
Independence Party nominations barred
The Erie County Board of Elections on Thursday was barred from adding nonjudicial candidate nominations made by the Erie County Independence Party to its September primary election ballot.
The ruling is part of the continuing procedural fight of the local political party with the executive committee of the state Independence Party.
State Supreme Court Justice Paula L. Feroleto blocked the county committee from issuing authorization and nominations contrary to the state party’s rules, which became effective Sept. 21. The decision is expected to be argued before a state appellate court next month.
Feroleto also dismissed a companion suit filed by the state committee to permanently void all nonjudicial nominating petitions filed by the maverick county committee with the County Elections Board on June 13.
Sean Cooney, attorney for the Erie County Independence Party committee, said the Feroleto decision will be appealed. Attorneys for the state party committee were unavailable.
Though the Erie County Independence Party last month filed 93 candidate nominations with the county Elections Board, court and elections officials Thursday said they were uncertain of the exact number affected by Feroleto’s rulings.
The judge, saying she was “mindful of the general proposition that courts will not interfere with the internal affairs of a political party,” held, however, that “intervention” in the Independence Party dispute is needed because the county committee is “in violation” of state party processes.
Under state Election Law, the judge held, “it is clearly within the purview of a state political party to make sure its rules are enforced and to prevent possible mistakes or confusion when it involves the primary purpose of a political party to nominate individuals to run for political office.”
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments