For decades, insiders used New York’s arcane laws on petitioning to frustrate outsider candidacies. So it’s poetic justice that the state’s highest court just knocked off two incumbent assemblywomen from the June ballot.
By a 5-2 vote, the state Court of Appeals ruled that the pandemic didn’t excuse the failure of three-term Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright (D-Manhattan) to file the proper paperwork to appear on the Democratic and Working Family Parties lines.
In a 5-4 decision, the same court invalidated the petitions of 26-year Albany vet Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx) — because they were “permeated” with fraud.
The rulings also rebuked the machine-controlled lower courts that decided in favor of keeping the two incumbents on the June ballot.
The political careers of both lawmakers are effectively ended — although Seawright supporters hold out the hope that Gov. Andrew Cuomo will permit the collection of Opportunity to Ballot petitions to get her on the November ballot as an independent.
The decisions all but assure victories for Republican Louis Puliafito on Manhattan’s East Side and Democratic challenger Amanda Septimo in The Bronx.
The state’s entire electoral system — from the election laws to the Boards of Election to the courts — is designed to protect incumbents. But arcane procedures can frustrate insiders, too — if the courts are honest.
Kudos to the Court of Appeals for doing the right thing.
