Alliance Party won’t get its own line on ballot

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kathleen Moore

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Once again, the Alliance Party has been kicked off the ballot.

Schenectady City Council candidate Richard Patierne will not be listed on the Alliance Party line, although he collected enough signatures to get on that line.

He will be listed on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines. All three parties have endorsed him.

He was also endorsed by the Alliance Party, but the Alliance will have to share the Independence line.

Placing Patierne’s name in the Alliance Party’s separate ballot space would clutter up the ballot, the Schenectady County Board of Elections ruled. Candidates with two or more established party lines can’t also be on an independent line, such as a local party created just for Schenectady. Candidates are allowed to be on as many established party lines as they desire; they could be on as many as five in Schenectady.

Alliance Party founder Roger Hull issued a press release saying he was disappointed by the Board of Elections’ decision.

“We had hoped the Board of Elections would right the wrong decision it made last year,” Hull said. “Restricting him to another party’s line with a reference to the Alliance Party is essentially ignoring the voters who have, in writing, requested the opportunity to vote for Rich on a line independent of the other parties.”

The Alliance Party will appeal, Hull said. The party faced the same situation last year and lost its appeal.

Hull said the rule might have made sense when the city used machine voting booths. But with today’s electronic ballot-readers, he said, there’s unlimited space for additional ballot lines.

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