Sam NY and ballot access

Bethlehem Spotlight, January 29, 2020

A recent Gallup poll found 42 percent of Americans identifying as political independents, and the last three years in Washington DC have done nothing to stop the partisanship and fighting between our two major political parties that has resulted in 4 out of 10 Americans looking for a different way.

Two years ago, the SAM Party in NY ran a bipartisan ticket for governor and lieutanent governor in 2018. The ticket of Stephanie Minor, a Democrat, for governor and Mike Volpe, a Republican, for lieutanent governor received more than 50,000 votes in the election, ensuring that the party will be on the ballot for the next four years.

What issues is SAM NY working on?

They’re the same issues that all of us want solved like fixing the culture of political corruption in New York state, revitalizing our economy, addressing New York’s high cost of living, improving education outcomes and reducing the cost of healthcare.

Unfortunately for SAM and the other minor parties in New York, an effort is underway to remove our voices from the ballot and from the political discourse in our state. Gov. Cuomo’s new “ballot access law” requires all political parties in New York to field a candidate for president and receive 130,000 votes in the upcoming election this November 2020 in order to keep our ballot line.

SAM NY believes that this law is unconstitutional, and we sued the governor, state Legislature and Board of Elections in federal court on Jan. 14.

We need your help to keep the diversity of the many voices in New York state alive and heard. First, you can contact your assembly member or state senator and ask them how they voted on the ballot access law. Second, if you›re sick and tired of the corruption and hyper-partisanship in Albany and Washington, we encourage you to join the SAM party here in New York.

By re-registering as a SAM voter by Feb 14, you can help us nominate candidates of any party who are dedicated to fixing our broken political system, representing their constituents instead of special interests, and working across the aisle to get things done.