The New York Direct Primaries Bill of 1909

The system of direct primaries for New York state proposed in the Hinman-Green bill (Senate, Int. 722; Assembly, Int. 1219) and advocated by Governor Hughes contains certain features which have never been embodied in the primary laws of any other state. The friends of direct primaries in New York have been sharply divided in opinion as to the merits of these features, some considering them an unfortunate compromise, designed to win the support of the party machines, and others regarding them as marking an advance over any primary law heretofore enacted. An outline of the bill and of the discussion which it has aroused, may be of interest to students of direct primaries in other parts of the country who have not had occasion to follow the New York situation in detail.The more novel provisions of the bill center about the method of proposing candidates for nomination to public office. Under most of the direct primary laws now in force the names of candidates for nomination are placed upon the official primary ballot by petition. Sometimes a declaration of candidacy by the candidate himself is all that is required—except for the payment of a fee, which is occasionally demanded under both systems. Under the Hinman-Green bill there will be two methods by which candidates for nomination may be proposed—or, to use the language of the bill itself, “designated†—and their names placed on the official primary ballot. The first method is by a majority vote of one of the party committees specially provided for in the bill; the second is by petition.