A coalition that includes former independent candidates for governor in New York on Monday called for Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to back a reform plan that would allow voters to cast ballots in primaries regardless of party affiliation and put term limits in place for the office of governor.
The platform from the group Unite NY has the backing of activists like Howie Hawkins, the fomer Green Party candidate governor, and former libertarian nominee Larry Sharpe.
At the same time, the ethics platform calls for an expansion of ballot access, revise the state’s ethics and lobbying commission so it has more independence from elected officials and place a strict ban on lobbyists serving in senior government roles.
Calls for ethics and election law changes have grown in the last week after Hochul took office as governor following the resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid a series of increasingly damaging scandals rocking his administration.
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