Petition comes up short

Republican legislative candidate Howard Kopel’s attempt to gain another ballot line in the Nov. 3 election was thwarted on Sept. 30 when a referee in Nassau County Supreme Court invalidated his petition for the newly created Tax Revolt Party.

Kopel filed petitions over the summer purporting to contain 1,616 valid signatures from registered voters in the 7th Legislative District. The bi-partisan research team appointed by the Nassau County of the Board of Elections invalidated 552 signatures, many because the signatories could not be identified as registered 7th district voters. The bi-partisan commissioners of the Board of Elections also said that they could not rule on 177 signatures which were alleged to be forgeries.

"The bipartisan research team agreed that these petitions were over-the-top bad," said Democratic Elections Commissioner William Biamonte. "There were hundreds and hundreds of deficiencies in signatures and there are now allegations of fraud."

During the third day of hearings, Supreme Court referee Marston C. D. Gibson invalidated another 112 signatures leaving Kopel’s petition short of the required signatures. To get on the Tax Revolt Party ballot line, 964 valid signatures were needed. Because the number of signatories fell below the required number, the court did not have to rule on the alleged forgeries.

"I think that the referee was unreasonable," Kopel said. "I think an awful lot of people were deprived of their democratic rights, and by the a lot of people I mean the people who signed the petition."

Kopel, a resident of Lawrence, said that his campaign's independent checking indicated that he had more than enough valid signatures "I think that the referee was unreasonable and seized on every possible technicality," he added.

A Nassau County Grand Jury has also subpoenaed Kopel’s Tax Revolt Party petitions and continues to investigate allegations of widespread fraud, Biamonte said.

Kopel will be on the Nov. 3 ballot on the Republican and Conservative lines, while incumbent Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside) will be listed on the Democratic, Independent and Working Families line.

"Republicans are running away from their line, hoping the people don't recognize them as Republicans," Toback said. "Kopel's signs don't even say Republican on them. Losing this line will make it harder for Kopel and the Republican's plot to succeed."

Kopel said he wanted to be on the Tax Revolt line because it as a hot-button issue in the election. "I think that it best expresses the premier issue in this campaign," Kopel said, "which is that spending and taxes have soared to totally unreasonable levels during Legislator Toback's watch."