Common Cause/NY Responds to BOE Decision re: NYC Council District 37

"this is an irresponsible power-grab by entrenched political interests to use the pandemic to limit voters' choices and put a thumb on the scale for preferred candidates"

NEW YORK, NY (04/22/2020) (readMedia)-- In response to breaking news that the BOE has ruled to uphold a higher petitioning threshold for New York City Council District 37, Common Cause/NY Executive Director, Susan Lerner, issued the following statement:

"New York's petition requirement is already an unreasonably high threshold that has nothing to do with democracy, and potentially lethal today with 45,000 people already dead from the worst contagion in 100 years. It is an absolute disgrace that the Mayor's Office of the Corporation Counsel and the BOE chose to ignore the Governor's EO lowering the threshold in response to the COVID-19 crisis, and enforce a standard that's contrary in every way to public health imperatives. Make no mistake: this is an irresponsible power-grab by entrenched political interests to use the pandemic to limit voters' choices and put a thumb on the scale for preferred candidates"