Every election year, petitioning season proves to be the most grueling part of a time-honored process. This year is no different as New York State Assembly, Senate, and Congress candidates battle for ballots the closer we get to the primary this June.
“When you get right down to it, democracy is people having conversations with other people. That’s why it’s so important to me that our campaign is rooted in the grassroots,” said Congressmember Jamaal Bowman in a statement.
Bowman, the first Black representative in Congressional District 16, is embroiled in a heated reelection bid to hold onto his seat against challenger, Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Bowman said he’s raised over $1.3 million this quarter from 10,000 donations, with 75% of that coming from small donations under $30.
Candidates running for an elected office in this state can’t get their names on the ballot without filing a petition containing a specified number of signatures from local residents. The current political parties are the Democratic, Republican, Conservative, and Working Families parties. There’s also an option to write-in the name of an unspecified person.
The required number varies depending on which office they’re running for and if they’re seeking a party nomination, but it’s a baseline of 500 to thousands of signatures that need to be acquired by April 1. This June primary will have congressional district races (1,250 signatures needed per candidate), state senatorial district races (1,000 signatures needed per candidate), and a bunch of assembly district races (500 signatures needed per candidate).
Every petition signature is presumed valid when filed unless objected to within a certain time frame after the final filing date.
Canvassing photos contributed by respective campaigns
“From Tarrytown to Co-Op City, our people-powered campaign gathered almost four times the necessary signatures and knocked on over a thousand doors last Sunday during our district-wide canvass launch through the organized power of volunteers,” said Bowman. “This is what democracy looks like, and it’s how we’re going to defend the people’s seat from special interests and Republican megadonors interfering in our Democratic primary.”
The state implemented the first version of the petitioning system about a decade after the U.S. Constitution ratified the 15th Amendment, supposedly giving Black American men the right to vote in 1870. New York was plagued with political scandals and corruption at the time, and began requiring “ballot listing” for candidates. A candidate had to be either nominated or submit nominating petitions to get on it. In 1890, the state passed a law that created the first primary election to choose the party’s candidates.
By 1965, after women finally got the right to vote in 1920, the federal government addressed the vicious, nearly century-long effort to suppress the Black vote by passing the national Voting Rights Act. Shortly after, Black voters sued to create the first ever Black congressional district in Brooklyn in 1967, electing Shirley Chisholm as the first black woman ever in the U.S. House of Representatives the next year.
The climate of petitioning season has evolved over the decades for candidates of color seeking elected offices and the approach has especially shifted somewhat since the COVID-19 pandemic, but still they persist: Hitting the streets, knocking on doors, staking out subways during morning commute, and networking with local volunteers to collect signatures.
“I believe that when you are able to get as many people as possible to sign your petitions, it shows that you’re worthy of the position that you’re running for,” said 70th Assembly District candidate Jordan J.G. Wright, who submitted close to a whooping 4,000 signatures on the first eligible filing day. Wright is in a packed assembly race that started off with six other candidates: Shana Harmongoff (about 2,300 signatures), Craig Schley (1,210 signatures), Joshua Clennon, Maria Ordonez, Alpheaus E. Marcus, and Seson Adams.
“Our team collaborated with local Democratic clubs made up of people who are experienced and knowledgeable about our village which was key to making sure we didn’t just collect signatures, but that we did it right,” said Wright.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.