Yassky v. Kings County Democratic County Committee

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May 30, 2001
Voting Rights & Elections

Yassky v. Kings County Democratic County Committee

Voting Rights & Elections

This case involved a dispute over party rules setting restrictive residency requirement on who may carry ballot petitions for primary candidates. In Lerman v. Board of Elections, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit found unconstitutional a state law requiring that anyone collecting signatures to get a candidate on a primary ballot must be a resident of the district in which the candidate is running. The Brooklyn Democratic Party responded to the decision by adopting essentially the same rule for the party’s Brooklyn City Council candidates. Representing a group of insurgent City Council candidates, the Center challenged the rule. Hours before the hearing for a preliminary injunction, the Party held an emergency meeting during which the rule was repealed. Under questioning at the hearing from U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon, defendants’ counsel conceded that the rule was unconstitutional. On March 25, 2003, Judge Gershon granted summary judgment for the Center’s clients, holding the party rule unconstitutional. This decision enforced the Second Circuit’s ruling in Lerman and helped to erase unconstitutional obstacles to prospective candidates’ use of the petition process to qualify for the ballot in primary elections. By easing access to the ballot, the decision promised to expand electoral choices for New York voters.

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