Albany, New York, October 31, 2021: On Tuesday November 2nd, 2021 the citizens of New York State are asked to cast their vote on five vague propositions, many of which seem to be an underhanded attempt to expand the power and control of the Democratic Party over New York State. Below are the positions of the Libertarian Party of New York on all five proposals.
Ballot Proposal 1: Amending the Apportionment and Redistricting Process
These revised rules could easily expand one party rule in NY. In typical fashion, the proposal is summarized to sound positive and forward thinking, but buried within the details are a number of troubling maneuvers, including: (1) freezing the number of state senators at an arbitrary number that doesn’t best represent all parts of our State, (2) changing the way the redistricting commission selects directors to a far less democratic method, which will directly result in single party control of the process, and (3) ignoring the general census and counting non-citizens of New York State. In short, this would obscure the process from public scrutiny by constitutional amendment, and turn the redistricting process into an even more partisan endeavor. Recommended: Vote No.
Ballot Proposal 2: Right to Clean Air, Clean Water, and a Healthful Environment
As evidenced by the extreme overreach by the State over the past 18 months of COVID-19, we find the term “healthful environment” to be very vague and open to broad interpretation. In light of the ongoing erosion of our freedoms, we find this to be both ominous and problematic. Recommended: Vote No.
Ballot Proposal 3:Eliminating Ten-Day-Advance Voter Registration Requirement
The LPNY understands many concerns about this proposition encouraging voter fraud; at the same time, voting is central to our democracy, and the right to do so should not be limited by an arbitrary deadline. Due to these conflicting points of view, we believe each voter should vote according to their own conscience. Recommended: Vote Your Conscience.
Ballot Proposal 4:Authorizing No-Excuse Absentee Ballot Voting
Voting is among our most important rights. The LPNY feels that any limits to voting are antithetical to Liberty. However, due to the measurably poor absentee ballot system in New York State, the LPNY feels “no-excuse” absentee balloting could lead to ballot harvesting and fraud statewide. Therefore, until the process can be made more secure and ensure all absentee ballots will actually be counted, we cannot in good conscience support this proposition. Recommended: Vote No.
Ballot Proposal 5: Increasing the Jurisdiction of the New York City Courts
This proposition appears to be an attempt to relieve some of the NYS Supreme Court caseload backlog, by allowing more civil cases to be heard in the New York City Courts. While this could be a good thing, as we desperately need our Supreme Court to focus on more pressing Constitutional issues and matters of fraud, it could also be seen as an overreach by delegation of legal precedence-setting decisions to the NYC Courts. Due to this duality, we encourage Libertarians to read it and vote their conscience. Recommended: Vote Your Conscience.
For more information about the Libertarian Party of New York, please visit lpny.org. You may also visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/LPNYOfficial, Twitter @LPNYOfficial, or Instagram @LPNYOfficial.
Contact:
Anthony D’Orazio
1st Vice Chair
Libertarian Party of New York
tdorazio@lpny.org
866-336-3120