A question about Andrew M. Cuomo

[Tx4obama]

I just saw a copy of the New York Board of Elections Certificate for the November 2, 2010 General Election.
It shows Andrew M. Cuomo listed as the candidate for The Democratic Party, The Independence Party, and The Working Families Party.
So, will he be listed on the ballot THREE times like on the Elections Certificate?
And if so, will the total number of votes for each three parties be added together as Cuomo's total?

[Nite Owl]

1. Yes, he will be listed three times

and the votes are added up.
NY has a lot of parties and someone can vote for a candidate under whatever party they wish in the General.

[Tx4obama]

3. Thanks :) n/t

[BurtWorm]

2. All Andrew Cuomo votes will be counted for Andrew Cuomo

But votes cast on the Independence or WFP lines will be counted toward their eligibility to receive matching funds from the state for their campaigns. They have to attain a certain percentage of the votes for that to happen, and I can't remember what that percentage is. Good Democrats do not vote for Democrats on those lines because those parties tend not to spend much of whatever they get on electing Democrats. They sort of ride on the coat-tails of the major parties, those third parties. I don't really know what use they serve. In principle I like the idea of a Working Families Party, but it's not actually a viable one. Their candidate is always the Democrat. Strange system.

[Tx4obama]

4. Thanks for the additional info. n/t

[TheWraith]

6. It's not a percentage, it's 50,000 votes.

The Working Families Party is usually good to support, but Independence is not. They're corrupt as hell. Please, nobody vote for Cuomo on the Independence line.

[BurtWorm]

7. So what does the WFP do that the Dems don't that's worth supporting?

I liked them when they first appeared, even voted on their line to express support for progressives. But an old Dem Party hand in my local club who is also progressive (extremely so) told me WFP is a wasted vote because the party is basically parasitic. Is he wrong?

[TheWraith]

8. Well, for starters they provide an easy second ballot line.

That can sometimes be important for Dems in tight races where the Republican has two or three lines. They also do a lot of aggressive lobbying against things like the Rockefeller drug laws, and have arguably done some good work in pushing the state Republicans into being reasonable on this using the carrot-and-stick of ballot lines and opposition spending.

Really though, the only thing that reaching the 50k threshold gets them is ballot access and the ability to raise money based on that. So it's not really a loss. I personally don't care that much, but some people do.

[Nite Owl]

9. For state offices they

do back Republicans too. Hard not to back unions if you want to be elected in NYS.

[TheWraith]

5. Exactly right. New York has "fusion voting"

...which means that a person can run as the nominee of multiple parties--usually one major party and one or more minor parties--and all the votes for them will be added together.