Was wondering if those on this message board can help me understand something has been bugging me for awhile At the County Board of Elections, there are two taxpayer funded County Election Commissioners. Each of the individuals in these positions represents his own political party. Mr. Quail is the Democratic Party Commissioner and Mr. Brassard is the Republican Party Commissioner. They each have Deputies (I don't recall their names). My concern is that with a substantial percentage of county (and town residents) who are enrolled with other minor parties or who are unaffiliated with a party, who at the Schenectady County Board of Elections represents the interests of independent candidates and their supporters? I have heard that the two Election Commissioners are extremely partisan and have not been supportive of candidates who are not endorsed by their parties.
So, the question is, if the taxpayers who are not enrolled with one of the major political parties are funding these positions, does it amount to taxation without representation? Things will never change in the town or county so long as the established bureaucracy supports the two party system. Are there any candidates who have run outside of the political party apparatus who can comment? Perhaps, Mr. Koza who forced a primary some years back.
Lastly, how do we rectify this situation? Would you pay more in taxes to support a third Election Commissioner who is not a member of a political party?
some back story
some party members suggested i run for town board
I tool the time to interview with one of the political parties - I was lucky enough to get two interviews with the selection committee -for that I am very thankful
after not being the candidate of choice I decided to run for the office to understand the process after all how hard could it be to gather signatures from 5% of my party membership
just getting the walk list took about a week.
I do not believe I will run for office again because I am not willing to do the parties wishes and the parties do not support my beliefs as to how the town should be
those with the money supporting political parties in Rotterdam prefer to live is squalor - a drive down Burdeck St and Altamont Ave will confirm this
here is what I found
the Election Commissioners and their staff should represent the electorate - in Schenectady county they represent the $$$$ supporting the respective Parties and sometime just one party
a walk list is a list of registrar voters by party, then electrician district, then address
while running for office i have asked politely for "walk lists" and have received party lists by last name, by county(this mixes Glenville with Rotterdam with the city....) - and after talking to others i have found that they have received useless lists also - the request to obtain these list also took days until i contacted the press then i received the useless lists in less than 24 hours - if you are not endorsed by "the party" you must ask for a "common walk" list by proper database sort order. To find how a "common walk" is sorted i had to visit NYS Board of Elections in Albany. In Albany the State Board of Elections said "just ask for a "walk List" for your town that is all you need to ask for. The local staff will produce these lists with ease
as for gathering signatures if you are registered in a party this is much easier - party people generally just sign a petition unless they are not true to the party beliefs - Rotterdam is famous for this
if you want to change the Board of Elections you need to change to unseat the current party committee members - once you have won the committee seats - your group can endorse candidates and force the incumbent to primary your candidate
keep in mind the reason the Democrats dominate the November ballot with all the smaller parties con, working, etc.......is to protect their candidate for just such an attack. The incumbents name will be on the ballot just on a different line
if you try to run for office as non-party represented you will have to gather signatures from a pool that have already been cleaned. You could FOIL petitions of others - this is a lot of quarters and you have lost precious time
as for a third election commissioner - it would never work in Schenectady county because a Democrat would change their voter registration to "blank" and the democratically controlled county legislature with seat this individual - not the one you have chosen - this is why the Republican Representative seems more Democrat than Republican
the best way to change the current system is registering Democrat and become a cancer
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