NEW YORK, NY October 24, 2006 —Virtually all New Yorkers entering the voting booth November seventh will recognize the Republican and Democratic parties. Some may even know about the Green and Working Families parties. But in this year's election there are a total of 19 independent lines appearing on ballots across the state - ranging from Taxpayer's Relief to Rent Is Too (Damn) High. How Did they get there? WNYC'S Elaine Rivera reports.

REPORTER: On election day, voters usually pull the lever for one of the two reigning political parties in America. But look at the independent lines and you might see North Country Reform, Socialist Equality, Right to Life, and yes, Rent is too High. The original title with damn, however, won't appear on the ballot at the orders of the New York State Board of Elections.

Lee Daghlian, a board spokesman, says there are only five sanctioned parties in this year's election. To have the "party" status under New York state law, there must have been 50,000 votes cast on behalf of the party every four years in the governor's race. But anyone armed with15,000 signatures of registered voters can join the ballot on an independent line.

DAGHLIAN: If they survive any challenges they get on the ballot in November with that party name. But even if they get on the ballot, many candidates representing these alternative parties are frustrated that they are given short shrift in public debate venues and in the media.

McCOURT: I've been getting the run around from the Brian Lehrer Show, I've been getting run around from the Amy Goodman show, I've been getting the run around from Air America and even those folks are on our side so I don't know what the hell is going on here....

REPORTER: Green Party Candidate Malachy McCourt is a writer who is running for governor. His counterpart, Howie Hawkins is running for U. S. Senate. Both have aggressively tried - to no avail - to join the broadcast debates. In a real democracy, says McCourt, he should be on the same stage with Democratic front-runner Eliot Spitzer and Republican opponent John Faso.

McCOURT: I have as much right as Mr. Spitzer, or Mr. Faso, or any other of these people they have as much experience of being governor as I do - NONE. None of them have been governor before - Spitzer and Faso.

REPORTER: McCourt's counterpart, Hawkins, who unloads trucks for UPS and is running for U.S. Senate against Sen. Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival John Spencer, cites the reasons why they're shut out.

HAWKINS: We're outgunned in terms of the money, we don't get the media access and we don't have the foundation of local elected officials that gives us credibility to make the next step.

REPORTER: The League of Women Voters had even dropped their support of the U.S. Senate debates because Hawkins was excluded. But if they get to participate, how about all the other ballot-qualified candidates - should they join the stage as well? For instance, Brooklyn resident Jimmy McMillan created a Rent Is Too Damn High Movement and Party and will be on the independent line for the governor's race.

MUSIC

That's from McMillan's web page. Phone calls and emails listed on their campaign at the site went unanswered. Richard Dadey, of the Citizens Union, a non-partisan government watchdog group, says allowing all candidates to debate is just not practical.

DADEY: I think it's pretty difficult to give equal access to everyone who qualifies for a ballot line during an election otherwise it becomes very cumbersome and distracting..."

REPORTER: Minority parties are not just in it to win. Take the Working Families Party. Dan Cantor, the party's executive director, say their key strategy is to help a major party’s candidate win in order to promote their own agenda.

CANTOR: We try to use the working party families line to tell the Democrats that we want them to be even more in opposition than Bush to bring this war to an end and bring the troops home and to be out there on issues like universal health care and affordable housing. Dadey, of the Citizens Union, says that strategy has been effective in the past and these minority parties can actually change the outcome of an election. As a result, they have a better chance of gaining influence gain with the newly elected official.

In the 1994 governor's race, Dadey says, Republican challenger George Pataki was able to defeat then Governor Mario Cuomo because of the votes he received on the Conservative Party line. In the 1993 New York mayoral election, Rudy Giuliani eked out a win over Democratic incumbent David Dinkins because of support from the Liberal Party.

So, don't be surprised if you peruse the ballot and see the choice of supporting School Tax Relief or the Rising Voices Coalition. And especially in New York City, voters may just decide to agree with McMillan that the rent, is well, just too...you know...high. For WNYC, I'm Elaine Rivera