Big statewide story not being talked about in Brooklyn --- even though a key Brooklyn GOP-Conservative Party player is at the center of it.....

 

THIS IS FROM A REPORT IN THE "ALBANY TIMES UNION"  ---  "...  Before voters went to the polls on Tuesday, the state Conservative Party spent $3 million attempting to defeat three proposed constitutional amendments – an effort that proved successful....  By late Tuesday, it became clear that propositions 1, 3 and 4, which would have altered the state’s redistricting process and allowed same-day voter registration as well as no-excuse absentee ballots, were all defeated....  Still, the public had no know way to immediately know who had funded the multi-million dollar campaign against the initiatives, including attack ads. The origin of the funding may not be known until January because the ads were paid for by a political spending vehicle that critics have long derided as a major loophole....  State Conservative Party Chairman Gera[r]d [Jerry] Kassar confirmed that the $3 million effort was paid for by the Conservatives’ 'housekeeping' account...."                                                                                                               ---  (See "Millions in secret ballot spending raises legal question ---  Housekeeping accounts were tapped to fund support and opposition to ballot propositions that were defeated"  by Chris Bragg,  11/4/2021, Albany Times Union/ State   [https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/Millions-in-secret-ballot-spending-raises-legal-16593253.php]).

Irrespective of anything else, thank God that Kassar and the Conservatives were successful in stopping three of the most onerous inititatives on the ballot, which would have ushered in 2020-style instant registration, mail-in and drop-off voting without ballot security, and other ballot access reforms. All of this was strongly supported by the Democrats, who were also using funds from their own "housekeeping accounts".....  

Here's the rub  ---   It's not clear whether spending from a party's "housekeeping account" on any of the ballot initiatives on election day would be considered one of the  "ordinary activities" of a political party.  A state Board of Elections spokesman has said that there are serious questions by the NYS BOE about using the spending mechanism of a poltical party's "housekeeping accounts" in this way for questions on the ballot on election day.