The Appeal in the case of Sloan vs. Szalkiewicz and New York City Board of
Elections has been perfected and set for argument on Tuesday, August 13,
2013 at 27 Madison Avenue New York NY.
This is on the corner of 25th Street and Madison Avenue and is closest to
the 23rd Street station of the number 6 train.
This appeal concerns the fact that Sloan and his candidates collected
enough Republican signatures to be on the ballot, but they were kicked off
the ballot on the ground that the signatures had not been witnessed by
voters registered to vote as Republicans.
In other words, it was not sufficient that the persons who signed the
petitions be Republicans. It was also a requirement that there be witnesses
to the petitions who were registered to vote as Republicans too.
This unusual rule obviously interferes with the First Amendment
Constitutional right "To Petition the Government".
Judge Paul Wooten who heard the case in Manhattan Supreme Court said that
he lacked jurisdiction to rule on the Constitutional Claim, and therefore
did not rule on it.
Almost everyone is surprised to learn that this appeal will be argued on
August 13 when appeals normally take years. This is because Election
Appeals are placed on a fast track. Because the election is coming up soon
and once the election is held and the votes counted the results cannot be
changed, election cases go very fast, giving enough time for the Appellate
Division and the New York Court of Appeals to hear these cases before the
election takes place.
There are reports of other cases coming from The Bronx that will be argued
on the same day. Also, any election cases from Brooklyn, Queens and Staten
Island will be held in the Appellate Division, Second Department in
Downtown Brooklyn on the same day.
Since these cases affect the rights of all voters to vote and participate
in these elections, we welcome any amicus briefs that anybody wants to file
favoring reversal so that these candidates can be put back on the ballot.
Sam Sloan