<\/p>\nAdd Preferred Source<\/p>\n
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Some of those arguments have merit, but the problem is that the board failed to meet its own\u00a0obligations on this specific point.\u00a0The requirement to include both candidates\u2019 signatures on the application was only recently added, but the board never updated its handbook or training materials. It didn\u2019t create a form for candidates to apply for certification jointly. It never notified candidates of the new requirement. In some cases, candidates were even told they were certified only to have that assurance clawed back.\u00a0And the board didn\u2019t alert candidates to the errors on their applications and give them a chance to rectify them.<\/p>\n
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Had it done even some of those things, and had the various campaigns complied with the requirements,\u00a0our\u00a0concerns would be moot.<\/p>\n
Notably, this is the first year\u00a0statewide races are eligible for public financing. Between that and the board\u2019s own failures, it\u2019s understandable that candidates would make mistakes, and it would be entirely reasonable for the board to make some accommodations for errors and misunderstandings. That doesn\u2019t set a precedent; it acknowledges the special circumstances of a new program.<\/p>\n
We suspect Democrats would have done just that if Ms. Hochul had been among those with flawed paperwork. But with more than $20 million in the bank, she has opted to bypass the matching funds program.<\/p>\n
Mr. Blakeman, on the other hand, reported just $1.6 million in the bank in his most recent filing with the state Board of Elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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This isn\u2019t the first time Democrats have tinkered with the public financing system. Initially, only donations from individual donors of up to $250 over an entire election cycle qualified for matching funds. Last year, over much criticism, the Democratic-controlled Legislature set a limit of $1,050 for the primary and general election separately, effectively allowing donations of up to $2,100.<\/p>\n
Though only the first $250 in each race is still eligible for matching funds, the change leaves less incentive for candidates to pursue more small donations, a change that goes against the whole point of the program \u2013 to give small donors a more meaningful role in the process.<\/p>\n
This is not about Mr. Blakeman or the other third-party contenders who have been denied access to public funds. This is about the fairness, integrity and legitimacy of a program that was intended to bring a measure of influence in politics to people of modest means, to open our political system to more candidates without access to big donors, and ultimately to create a government made up of people with a greater obligation to work in the public interest, not just the interests of a relatively few wealthy donors.<\/p>\n
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Self-serving political maneuvers like this leave the public to wonder if Democrats running the state really believe in those high-minded goals at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"iQoncept\/Getty Images The state Public Campaign Finance Board\u2019s decision to deny matching funds to Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce\u00a0Blakeman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[304,9,11,10,12522],"class_list":{"0":"post-186155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-editorial","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-news","12":"tag-opiniontu"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}