DATE | ENROLLED VOTERS |
April | 1999 | 1214 |
November | 1999 | 1,492 |
March | 2000 | 3,611 |
November | 2000 | 12,121 |
April | 2001 | 17,992 |
November | 2001 | 21,526 |
April | 2002 | 25,492 |
November | 2002 | 29,528 |
consider the character and magnitude of the asserted injury to the rights protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments that the plaintiff seeks to vindicate. It then must identify and evaluate the precise interests put forward by the State as justifications for the burden imposed by its rule. In passing judgment, the Court must not only determine the legitimacy and strength of each of those interests; it also much consider the extent to which those interests make it necessary to burden the plaintiff's rights.
This relief creates very troublesome outcomes for voters in New York. First, it misrepresents the status of these voters. They would not be members of an official party despite being listed on official board of elections records as members of a party. Second, and most troubling, it may mislead voters who enroll in this “party” into thinking they are joining an *356 official party when they are not. Official parties in New York enjoy certain privileges; for example they can organize into state and county committees under Article 2 of the Election law. Official parties can run primaries where only voters enrolled in their party are allowed to vote to choose their party's candidates. Election Law § 8–302(4). Parties enjoy certain fund-raising limits under Article 14 of the Election Law. None of these privileges extend to the Green Party following the 2002 general election. However, if people are allowed to continue enrollment in this “party” they may believe the Green Party continues to enjoy these privileges. This may cause voters who wish to vote in a primary election not to enroll in one of the five remaining parties which would disenfranchise them by not allowing them to vote in a primary election. For example, those presently enrolled in the Green Party may choose to enroll in one of the five remaining parties. Such change would take place in November of 2003 allowing them to vote in the presidential primary in March of 2004. First time registrants could immediately enroll in one of the five parties, allowing them to vote in the September, 2003 primary. Continued official representation of the existence of the Green Party, which is no longer a party, may confuse voters who would believe they could vote in the primary only to discover they cannot. This voter confusion would result from county boards of election's [sic] continued representation on official voter rolls and voter registration forms that the Green Party is still a recognized party. In fact, the Election law requires that the voter registration form state that enrollment in a political party is required to vote in a primary election when giving registrants the opportunity to select enrollment in a party or register to vote but not enroll in a party. Election Law § 5–210(5)(f). Significantly, plaintiffs have not challenged this statute. This would remain in place, confusing voters as to the impact of their selection.
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