NEW YORK—Council Member Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn) is fighting to get on the ballot for New York City public advocate. Due to a technical error on the coversheet of his nomination petition, the City’s Board of Elections (BOE) decided late last week that the city council member would not be included on the November election ballot, said de Blasio in a press conference at City Hall Monday.
The mistake was a typographical error that undercounted the number of signatures. While 132 volumes of signatures were collected, de Blasio’s election lawyer Henry Berger accidently put 131 on the coversheet, Matt Wing, spokesperson for Council Member de Blasio confirmed.
To put it another way, de Blasio’s group simply undercounted the number of signatures—that’s it. The numbers didn’t match and de Blasio was out.
De Blasio garnered more than 125,000 signatures for his candidacy, far exceeding the “safe” three times the 7,500 signatures required for the public advocate position he is running for, said the councilman.
De Blasio traveled to all five boroughs and gathered support for his campaign the “the old fashioned way,” by meeting people of all backgrounds and “not relying on TV commercials,” said Scott Stringer, Manhattan borough president.
De Blasio and supporters condemned the Board of Elections’ “archaic” rule whereby small mistakes can eliminate valid candidates from the ballot.
“[De Blasio] should be reinstated,” said Alex Zablocki, Republican candidate for public advocate in a phone interview. He added that the New York state election laws should be reformed and voters, rather than BOE commissioners or court officials, should make the ultimate decision.
Zablocki described the petition process as “very complicated” for lawyers and not only “turns off potential candidates who want to run for office, but also prevents access to the ballot for candidates that have few resources.”
“We believe de Blasio should be put back on the ballot,” said Justin Schall, a campaign aide to Eric Gioia, Democratic candidate for public advocate in a statement. He added that Councilman Gioia is willing to write to the judge on [de Blasio’s] behalf.
De Blasio is currently appealing the decision last week by BOE. The board will vote on whether to keep de Blasio off the ballot Tuesday in a hearing open to the public, according to Matt Wing, spokesperson.
The Board of Elections could not be reached for comment.
According to Borough President Stringer, Democratic Public Advocate candidates Norman Siegel and Mark Green also disapproved of the BOE’s decision.
Council Member Rosie Mendez also spoke to the dangers of the BOE’s rules. As an example, she said that a valid candidate who has collected hundreds of thousands of signatures can be removed from the ballot, making way for a candidate who has collected only 25.
“We need to encourage democracy in every way that we can,” said Congressman Ed Towns, chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He added that “elimination is not good for democracy, not good for the people.”
De Blasio has “had a record in the city for the past eight years,” said Mendez. He has taken on issues in the city and received citywide support, she added.
De Blasio has spearheaded “comprehensive reforms” to improve public education and create affordable housing, according to the New York City Council Web site.
“We are not going to let a typo get in the way of profound change,” said Stringer, adding that de Blasio is someone who “understands inside government and outside government.”
“Reform in regards to ballot access is consistent with [the ideas of] the Founding Fathers of this nation,” said Council Member Tish James, who has stood alongside de Blasio “against anti-democracy forces in the City of New York.”
James added that the BOE has a “wide range of latitude” for reform. She suggested that the BOE can, for example, allow for an amendment to the coversheet.
