Bid to make it easier to run in elex

ALBANY — A coalition of candidates and advocates are calling on the city and state to cancel petitioning requirements to gain ballot access in this year’s elections due to concerns about COVID.

Despite some actions taken to reduce risks and lower the number of signatures needed, some lawmakers and those seeking office want officials to scrap in-person signature collections altogether.

“My district has 13 candidates and the requirement of in-person signatures for that many candidates would mean thousands of interpersonal interactions that would not happen otherwise in my district alone,” Corey Ortega, who’s running for City Council, said during a virtual rally Thursday.

Typically, candidates and volunteers must obtain hundreds or thousands of signatures from registered voters to get their names on the ballot in New York.

“I think it’s a moral responsibility to do what we can to minimize people being in-person with anything. We’ve spent time closing schools and businesses, to then say that we have to have in-person petitioning is a bit hypocritical,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said. “And it’s not something that has a cost.”

Amid the pandemic, Gov. Cuomo last year reduced signature requirements in order to limit physical interactions during the pandemic, rather than canceling the practice altogether, and has already reduced signature requirements for a few upcoming special elections this year.

Cuomo also signed a bill into law Thursday that reduces the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot this year by 70%