Originally Published: December 9, 2013
Stating that the board of elections “must go,” groups call for new campaign finance enforcement agency to regulate and enforce campaign finance laws for both public and private financing of elections
ALBANY, NY. In a letter to Governor Cuomo, New York State’s leading government reforms organizations today called for quick and comprehensive action to implement The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption’s recommendations
The groups pointed out that public financing of elections, which they referred to as a “critical component of reform” goes “hand in hand with strong enforcement.” Accordingly, the groups urged action to drastically change the way that the state administers and regulates its campaign finance system by creating a new enforcement agency and eliminating the current role the New York State Board of Elections plays in campaign finance matters. The groups pointed out that public financing of elections, which they referred to as a “critical component of reform,” requires tough safeguards and goes “hand in hand with strong enforcement.”
In their letter to the governor, the groups further wrote,
“We are not at all surprised by the Commission’s findings that the [State Board of Elections] is essentially useless in enforcing the state’s campaign finance law. However, we are shocked by the report’s findings that staff’s pleas for meaningful work assignments were ignored at best and punished at worst. Those stories underscore just how the Board puts the needs of the political parties well ahead of the interests of the public it purports to serve.”
Referring to the New York State Board of Elections, the groups’ letter simply stated, “The Board has to go.”
The groups called for the governor to convene a public meeting with the legislative leaders on the Commission’s recommendations, use his “bully pulpit” in next month’s State of the State address, and then barnstorm New York to build public pressure on lawmakers to act. The groups urged, “There can be no doubt that this report has offered you an historic opportunity to dramatically change the ethical culture of Albany. This clarion call for change cannot be ignored.”