Young v. Heffernan

The State Constitution, as construed by the Court of Appeals, gives to all electors “ equality of opportunity so far as practicable for the nomination of candidates for public office ” (People ex rel. Hotchkiss v. Smith, 206 N. Y. 231, *606241-242). That does not mean that the Legislature may not make reasonable differences in requirements for nominations by enrolled members of political parties, as distinguished from nominations by independents.

The court in the Hotchkiss case (supra) considered a provision of the Election Law which made a fixed requirement of the number of signatures…