[EL] Check out N.Y. Lawmakers Charged in Plot to Buy Spot onMayoral B...

[Richard Winger]

I haven't read all the e-mails in this thread, so perhaps I missed something, but as far as I know, no one in this discussion has criticized the New York election law called Wilson-Pakula, and that law ought to be criticized, because it is the real cause of this scandal.

When a state like New York permits fusion, then that state ought to let any candidate run in any party's primary, without the need for the candidate to beg permission from a handful of party officials.  The only reason the Wilson-Pakula law of 1947 was passed, as many other news sources have noted, was that Congressman Vito Marcantonio could not be defeated for Congress without the ability to keep him out of the Democratic and Republican primaries.  And even after the law went into effect in 1948 and kept him out of those primaries, he still got re-elected in November solely on the American Party line.  It is time to repeal the law.  Repealing the law would also decrease the tiny handful of people in New York state who control the Independence Party nominations process.

Richard Winger

415-922-9779

PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147

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