The New York Court of Appeals has kicked a candidate for member of the New York State Democratic Committee off the September primary ballot for failing to explicitly state she is a woman.
Penny Mintz, who was running to be the female member of the committee in the 66th State Assembly District, will officially not appear on the ballot next month. The decision, which was split 5-2, affirmed an opinion by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead and the Appellate Division, First Department….
There are two positions for member of the State Democratic Committee in the district. One is reserved for a woman and the other is reserved for a man. Mintz, who identifies as a woman, was running for the female position.Only, Mintz did not say so on her petitions, according to the decision. She did not specify whether she was seeking the male or female slot.A section of election law allows state committees to create a rule requiring an equal representation of sexes on that committee. The court said in its one-paragraph opinion that the rule also requires candidates for members of that committee to specify which position they are seeking, whether female or male.