Good-Government Groups Urge BOE Reform
State of Politcs
A coalition of good-government groups on Monday urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo to push for an overhaul of the state Board of Elections and create a new independent enforcement watchdog for campaign finance laws.
In a letter to Cuomo, the groups — Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens Union, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and NYPIRG — seized on the preliminary report released by the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption the called for a strengthening of enforcement when it comes to campaign finance.
“While most of the Commissions findings are consistent with other reports, in one area its findings are particularly startling: the revelations of the stunning failures of the state Board of Elections,” the groups wrote in the letter. “These failures are particularly troubling to us as strong advocates for a public funding system, for we know that such a system requires the protections which only a strong enforcement agency can provide.”
A stronger enforcement mechanism was raised as an issue earlier during the legislative session, with Cuomo pushing for changes at the BOE after multiple lawmakers were arrested in unrelated corruption cases.
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