Astorino wants an anti-Common Core ballot line

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino says critics of New York’s new educational standards should be able to voice their concerns by voting on a new ballot line called “Stop Common Core.”

Astorino says Tuesday that petitions are circulating to add the line to the fall ballot. He says the line would let voters know which candidates oppose the standards, which have been criticized by teachers and parents.

If approved, the line would appear along with the major parties and lesser ones like the Green Party and the Working Families Party. New York election law allows candidates to run on multiple ballot lines.

Astorino says the line would also give Democrats and independents a way to support his challenge to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo without casting a Republican vote.