The Working Families Party and the Conservative Party say they have achieved enough votes on their presidential ticket to retain ballot status into the new election cycle.
The development is a victory for both parties -- which have sought to tug the Democrats and Republicans to the left and right respectively -- amid a new and more difficult threshold for votes.
“New York’s progressive movement is stronger than ever," said Working Families Party State Director Sochie Nnaemeka. "As ballots continue to be counted, we are confident that the New York Working Families Party will meet the ballot threshold and will remain on the ballot in New York. This is a victory for our party and our movement."
The new threshold, approved as part of a package that created a system of publicly financed campaigns, requires parties to receive at least 130,000 votes at the top of its ticket or 2 percent of all votes cast. The previous threshold was 50,000 votes for gubernatorial candidates.
The change came after the WFP in 2018 had endorsed actress and education advocate Cynthia Nixon's gubernatorial camapign over Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The party as a result urged voters to back the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket on the WFP ballot line, with a variety of prominent Democrats ranging from establishment figures like Sen. Chuck Schumer to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to urge votes on the line.
But the new threshold threatened the other parties in New York's multi-ballot fusion voting system.
“New Yorkers who chose to vote on the Conservative Line are making a statement that fiscal responsibility, law and order, less government involvement, and adherence to the values of our Founding Fathers, is what makes America the greatest nation in the world; knowing that, I was certain we would maintain our official status," said Conservative Party Chairman Gerry Kassar.