Timothy L. Carney, Democratic candidate for the 46th Senate District, encompassing all of Albany County, has been thrown off the ballot after having three of his 1,001 signatures his nominating petitions disallowed, bringing him down to 998 two shy of the 1,000 required to get on the September primary ballot.
The Board of Elections is incompetent,` Carney said after the hearing held at the Albany County Judicial Center. `It’s just a shame I have to be forced out by a technicality.`
Carney said the election petition process makes it impossible for a common citizen to run and be involved.
`The election laws are a complicated, byzantine process,` said State Supreme Court Justice Roger D. McDonough after the ruling, but added Carney should have had a lawyer on retainer.
Carney originally filed 1205 signatures, but 204 were previously ruled invalid.
The decision leaves Luke Martland, a former prosecuter in the Office of Sex Offender Management in the Division of Criminal Justice Services, as the sole primary challenger to Sen. Neil Breslinwho is seeking his eighth term in the 46th.
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