I couldn't let a recent Daily News article pass without comment. Earlier we heard that many of those collecting signatures to get incumbent state legislators on the ballot were either staff members employed by those legislators, or employees of non-profits primarily or exclusively funded via grants from those legislators. Now today we hear that legislative staff members also served as campaign treasurers, a difficult job involving a lot of paper and use of a state computer program. No wonder those legislators don't see complicated ballot access and campaign finance rules as a problem. Evidently it isn't enough for them to collect money from lobbyists to fund their campaigns, and sell their votes in office for access to member items they hand out as if they were Santa Claus. They also expect, back door, for taxpayers to fund their signature collectors and campaign treasurers.
Yes, after attending a training session and getting extensive help from the Board of Elections, I was able to operate the software needed to meet the requirements when I ran against the legislature in 2004. Then again, I have a graduate degree, and it still wasn’t easy for me. When the current campaign finance system was set up in 1974, included an exemption for a modestly funded campaign spending $1,000 or less. That figure has never been updated upward for inflation. All the other figures have.
No doubt if a less-than-computer literate, less than legally-aware challenger ever presented a real threat, the incumbents could find a way to bring them up on charges and threaten to take away their house with massive fines or put them in jail. This as many incumbents file years later and incorrectly. What was I told at the information session for the state campaign finance software? You’d better get a damn good treasurer who knows what he or she is doing.
Looks likes the incumbents don’t have a problem with that.