On the eve of the petition filing deadline, 33rd District City Council candidate Ken Diamondstone has challenged his fellow opponents to refrain from challenging each other’s petitions to get on the ballot.
“I have never challenged anyone’s right to ballot access, and I will not start now,” said Diamondstone.”I call on each of my opponents to make a pledge to do the same.Let the voters decide, not the courts.”
As of the petition deadline, Thursday, July 16, Diamondstone had collected 5,300 signatures with 27 witnesses and help from dozens of volunteers.City Council candidates must get a minimum of 900 registered voters from their party in their district, and all seven candidates for Council in the 33rd District have reported unofficial totals higher than the minimum count.
“We are very confident in our signatures,” said Steve Stites, a Diamondstone campaign advisor.”It was a huge grassroots effort.Ken’s ballot status is not in question or in danger.We feel that that’s undemocratic.”
Candidates will often challenge opponents’ petitions in order to find fraudulent signatures or other discrepancies that could remove them from the ballot.Late deadline night,representatives for several candidates reportedly requested copies of their opponents’ petitions, in order to determine whether they were legitimately collected.Assemblymember and Kings County Democratic Party Chair Vito Lopez (D-Williamsburg), who is backing Council candidate Steve Levin, was spotted at the city’s Board of Elections office, as was former State Senator Marty Connor, who is representing Council candidate Jo Anne Simon.
Sore feelings between the Simon and Diamondstone camps appear to be reemerging.In 2006, when Diamondstone ran against Connor for the State Senate in a Democratic primary, Connor challenged Diamondstone’s residency in the district.The result was a long, expensive fight for Diamondstone to get back on the ballot, wasting tremendous resources.Diamondstone eventually did get back on the ballot, but political observers believe Diamondstone spent so much time and energy fighting in court that he was unable to devote enough attention to the race.Diamondstone lost that effort, but declared to run for city council in 2008.
“Instead of a beacon of the democratic process, petitioning has become a fiendish tool used by corrupt judges, high-priced lawyers, and party bosses to remove insurgents from the ballot and discourage real reform,” said Diamondstone.”My campaign is about real reform and empowering people, not insider politics or legal maneuvering.”
As of July 17, no candidate has filed a general objection to their opponents petitions.The Diamondstone camp believes Connor may challenge candidates Doug Biviano or Ken Baer on behalf of Simon, but Simon advisors claim they will not be challenging anyone’s ballot because it will be too expensive.