By Robert Press
In a stunning victory by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over soon to be former Congressman Joe Crowley for the 14th Congressional seat which covers both Queens and the Bronx, what is next?
Will it be a new governor in Albany, a woman with different views from the establishment, just as future Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez will have? One thing is for sure, it appears to be the downfall of the Cuomo administration as one by one insiders are being sent to prison. First it was a top aid Joe Percoco convicted of three felonies in March of this year. The ‘Buffalo Billion’ deal then blew up in the governors face, with the most recent convictions of four people on various counts of fraud and conspiracy. This time it was the President of SUNY Polytechnic, who was the executive leading the expansive ‘Buffalo Billion’ initiative, and others who were involved in what the U.S. Attorney claimed was inside information, bid rigging, and changing an Request For Proposal to suit one of the bidders.
Locally here in the Bronx petitions were handed in for State Assembly, State Senate, and various party positions such as District Leader, State Committee, and County Committee members. There is an open seat in Parkchester since former Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda became State Senator Luis Sepulveda, but he will be facing a challenger. There seems to be three people running for his vacant assembly seat, and lines in the sand have already been drawn. However getting petitions signed, and handing them in was only the first part of the journey to get elected.
The next phase is called the ‘Challenge Phase of the campaigns, where a petition may be challenged for its accuracy of valid signatures. There is three days after a petition is handed in for a objection to be placed on any petition. There are requirements for a valid objection, such as the objector must be a resident of the area in which the office or party position exists. After placing a general objection, specifications to the objections must be handed in to the Board of Elections who then will rule on each and every valid objection. A candidate will be ruled on the ballot by meeting the minimum number of valid signatures needed for said office or party position. A candidate will be ruled off the ballot if the objector has specified enough reasons why certain signatures should not be allowed (for any one of many reasons), to bring a petition below the minimum number of valid signatures needed.
After the Board of Elections makes their rulings as to the validity or not of a petition, it is sometimes on to the next phase called ‘The Court Phase’. Since the Board of Elections does not rule on certain items such as fraud, similar hand writing, and other areas which require a judge to hold a hearing after hearing why or why not the petition should then be thrown out or stay in. There can be expert testimony on varying degrees of fraud, or people called in to say yes or no as to some of the other claims. A candidate can sometimes have to go to court to convince the judge to allow certain signatures the Board of Elections disqualified to bring the candidate above the minimum number required to be placed back on the ballot.
Check my blog atwww.100percentbronx.blogspot.com to keep up with who handed in petitions for which office, and which candidates have been challenged. This column is the opinion of the writer and does not necessary the views of this newspaper. If you any comments about this column or would like to send an upcoming event or political news to the writer you can e-mail him at100percentbronxnews@gmail.com
