A 2021 amendment to N.Y.’s Election Law restricts the permissible universe of write-in candidates in a party primary to members of the party. Essentially applying Anderson-Burdick, the state appellate court upheld the constitutionality of the amendment.

“Political parties have protected associational rights, which include the right to identify their own members and to select candidates who best represent their ideals and preferences and the ‘right to exclude non-members from their candidate nomination process.’ We conclude that the restrictions imposed by the statute were intended to protect those rights, and that petitioners have no associational right to involve non-members in the nomination process of their parties.”

The case is In re Kowal v. Mohr, 419 CAE 23-00703.