How Many Times Will the NYC Board of Elections Dispute a Woman’s Name on a Ballot?
It isn’t easy for women to run for office in NYC.
The NYC Board of Elections gave Heidi Chan-Sarantopoulos a hard time over her name. Heidi is running for Republican District Leader of Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights with Bob Cassara.
In the April 20th meeting at 48:32, the Board of Elections had a long discussion about Heidi’s name and refused to change her name on the ballot. It was awful to watch the video!
Seven members of the Board of Elections voted against Heidi using the name Heidi.
The Board of Elections thought Hei Man (her legal name) was too far away from Heidi and it would confuse people. The video is online – it won’t allow me to direct link to it – you have to find the April 20th meeting. (Video at 48:32)
** The Board of Elections in NYC has ten Commissioners, two from each borough which were each recommended by the Democrats or Republicans and then appointed by the New York City Council for a term of four years. ** (Source)
I’m thankful there was one woman who voted in favor of the name change (she was in the top row). You could tell she thought the entire discussion was ridiculous as she voted YES.
If candidates can have their name translated into other languages on the ballot, why wouldn’t an Americanized version of a name be acceptable? A person should be able to use whatever name they use in their community! They could have easily put both names.
The Board of Elections also didn’t want to change Heidi’s last name to her married name. A hyphenated name is easy to understand.
Brooklyn Republicans, the name you will need to look for on the ballot right for this new district leader is: Hei Man “Heidi” Chan ??? and Bob Cassara.
Maybe this is just how they try to discourage people from running for the position?!
NYC we have been here before!! Last year, the Board of Elections had these two women removed from the ballot because of their names (See here and here) The women knew they were in the right and went to court in Queens to fight it. They won and were able to get back on the ballot. (See here)
Someone please change the rules so the Board of Elections can’t do this to women….women who are married, who want to use an Americanized version of their name or who just want to run on the name their community calls them.
Hugs,
marlene
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