New York State has two big political parties — Democratic and Republican — on its ballot as well as an assortment of smaller parties. That might seem harmless, but in the strange, convoluted netherworld of New York politics, a lot of the minor parties are useless and mysterious. They clog the ballot, warp the debate and confuse the voters. What makes this system especially confounding is that a candidate’s name can appear on two or more ballot lines. Last year, New Yorkers could vote for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the Democratic, Working Families, Independence or Women’s Equality Party. Now, New York Republicans are trying to get rid of the Women’s Equality Party, which favors Democrats.
The party was created last year by Mr. Cuomo to show the governor’s support for women’s issues and appeal to women voters. Republican lawyers, citing procedural problems in the party’s creation, are fighting in more than a dozen counties to get it bumped from ballots in November’s local and state elections.
The Republicans have not challenged the minor parties that normally support them, like the Conservative Party and the Stop Common Core Party, now undergoing a name change to the Reform Party. Even so, their challenge to the Women’s Equality Party is just and makes sense; it was a fake party to begin with. A few female politicians liked the idea, while many others found the idea of a separate party insulting.
Full Article: Too Many Parties on the Ballot in New York – The New York Times.