by Thomas W. Hamilton
Lerman et al v Board of Elections et al was settled by the 2nd (federal) Circuit Court of Appeals with a victory for Lerman. The ruling stated that NYS law requiring collectors of signatures on nominating petitions must be either notaries or party members residing in the district the candidate will run in served no rational purpose, since districts hold typically over 100,000 voters, and no one could hope to claim they knew all these people. Lerman had collected signatures for an Independence Party candidate in the 50th City Council district (Brooklyn-Staten Island), although living in the 49th.
Now we have the Brooklyn Democratic organization threatening to ignore this ruling and tie up insurgent candidates in court if they try to depend on this federal court ruling. The Brooklyn Democrats should be reminded that the last state to try the doctrine of interposition was South Carolina, and President Lincoln handled that one neatly. It might be too much to expect soi-disant President Shrub uh, Bush to carpet bomb Bklyn Dem HQ, but their attorneys should be disbarred, and their officers investigated for subversive activities. Electoral reforms such as Lerman are at the core of why the Independence Party was formed.
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Thomas Hamilton is the Independence Party's Richmond County Chair.
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