Elections

Avoiding A Repeat of 2020 Election Attacks

September 17, 2023 by Editorial Staff 10 Comments

After the 2020 election, Donald Trump and his allies assaulted, and continue to assault, our democratic system. It remains vulnerable in 2024.

Some of the loopholes they exploited have been closed — for example, Congress updated the Electoral Count Act — but many remain. If any defeated candidate, were to deploy the same tactics in 2024, we would still be relying on the goodwill and law-abiding honesty of individual officials to ensure a smooth and lawful transition. [Read more…] about Avoiding A Repeat of 2020 Election Attacks

Dennis Greenwald v. Sullivan County Supervisors

December 8, 2022 by John Conway 2 Comments

The recent passing of longtime Mamakating Supervisor Dennis Greenwald brought forth an outpouring of condolences from county residents who remember him, as well as myriad musings about his contributions to good governance over the years as one of the most influential and impactful Sullivan County officials of his era. [Read more…] about Dennis Greenwald v. Sullivan County Supervisors

Voter Resources For The 2020 Midterm Elections

November 7, 2022 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

The 2022 midterms are poised to be the most consequential in decades, with issues like voting rights, women’s rights, and democracy itself at stake. Spurred by the myth of a “stolen” 2020 election, there is an increased risk of voter and election worker intimidation today and in the days that follow. However, the law makes clear that intimidating or harassing voters or election workers is illegal.

From armed volunteers staking out drop boxes in Arizona to people in Colorado going door-to-door looking for evidence of voter fraud, there is mounting concern about Americans being able to freely exercise their right to vote. [Read more…] about Voter Resources For The 2020 Midterm Elections

Electoral Capitalism During the Gilded Age

April 14, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

On this episode of Empire State Engagements, a conversation with Dr. Jeff Broxmeyer of the University of Toledo about his book Electoral Capitalism: The Party System in New York’s Gilded Age (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020).

In Electoral Capitalism, Jeffrey D. Broxmeyer reappraises the controversy over wealth inequality, and why this period was so combustible. As ranks of the dispossessed swelled, an outpouring of claims transformed the old spoils system into relief for the politically connected poor.

A vibrant but scorned culture of petty office-holding thus emerged. By the turn of the century, an upsurge of grassroots protest sought to dislodge political bosses from their apex by severing the link between party and capital. [Read more…] about Electoral Capitalism During the Gilded Age

Local Newspaper Editor Ponders Election of 1876

November 2, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Presidential elections can strain neighborly relations, as reiterated in Washington County’s Granville Sentinel in 1876.

“The one pleasant thing about it, when the cruel suspense is over, they’ll be less lying in the newspapers and less personal defamation in the streets,” the Sentinel quipped on October 29th. [Read more…] about Local Newspaper Editor Ponders Election of 1876