Bi-Partisan Election Boards Are A Must

To the Readers’ Forum:

The editorial endorsement on Sunday of the New York Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness proposal to eliminate county election boards deserves a response. Without hesitation, I am happy to defend New York’s system of democracy delivery that I think is a model for the rest of the country.

First, it must be noted that the efficiency proposal would not be a significant cost saver to the county taxpayers and in my personal estimation will instead raise the cost of doing the election business in Chautauqua County. Further, be assured that the current bi-partisan staff at the Chautauqua County Board of Elections is hard working and dedicated to professional election administration and management and would be needed with or without the new bureaucracy envisioned by the efficiency group.

When speaking before groups, I always explain that New York’s shared election administration system would be an awful way to run a business. However, our bi-partisan system of professional election management is a great way to run a democracy.

In this case, it appears that the efficiency panel is less interested in cost savings for elections anyway and more interested in furthering its collective vision that elections be turned over to ‘‘apolitical’’ types

And this apolitical official would be appointed by whom or by which blue ribbon panel? I’m also sure that democracy as we know it in New York State would also soon go the way of Florida and Ohio.

The election commissioners of New York State are election professionals and take their work seriously. If there is gridlock from time to time over important ballot access issues or certification of Election Day winners, that is surely preferable to the efficient system run by a supposed apolitical appointee.

Reading the editorial, my thoughts turned to U.S. history’s most famous apolitical chief election official of all time; Florida’s Kathryn Harris.

Because of New York’s bi-partisan system of election administration, the people’s faith in the final election result will remain in our state and we will never have one sole person in our state entrusted with declaring winners and losers in democratic elections at any level.

Norman P. Green

Chautauqua County Democratic

Election Commissioner

NY Election Commissioner Association,

President 2007-2008