After losing an appeal, a county executive in New York is taking his case to appear on a write-in line for an Independence Party primary to a higher court.
After a state Supreme Court appellate division upheld a lower court ruling keeping incumbent Republican Rob Astorino off a write-in line for an Independence Party primary for county executive, Astorino is appealing the decision. In its ruling, the appellate court said the so-called opportunity-to-ballot petition was filed late. A spokeswoman for Friends of County Executive Rob Astorino, in a statement, said the petition filing was not late, that the Board of Elections stayed open until 10 p.m. on the night petitions were due. She writes that the ruling makes no sense, and thousands of Independence Party voters who wanted a primary are being disenfranchised as a result. Astorino’s appeal heads to the state Court of Appeals. The Independence Party has endorsed Democratic New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, yet had endorsed Astorino in 2009.