New York State Supreme Court Expels Twenty Working Families Party Members from Party
By: Joseph T. Burns
On June 8, 2026, a State Supreme Court Justice in Rockland County, New York, ordered the removal, or disenrollment, of twenty Working Families Party enrolled voters from the party. This came after complaints were made to the State Committee of the Working Families Party that the voters were not in sympathy with the party’s principles.
After receiving a complaint, the state committee appointed a subcommittee to hear enrollment challenges in the counties of the Hudson Valley, including Rockland County, the county of residence of the voters who were challenged. The complaint cited a number of items alleged to demonstrate that the voters were not in sympathy with the party, including social media posts of the voters and campaign contributions to candidates opposing Working Families candidates made by the voters.
After providing notice to the voters whose enrollment was challenged, a disenrollment hearing was held by the party body charged with that duty on May 26, 2026. None of the challenged party members appeared in person or through legal counsel.
A proceeding was then commenced in Supreme Court by the committee’s chair and the party member that made the original complaints against the voters. A return date of June 5, 2026, was set by the Court. The challenged Working Families Party members did not submit an Answer and failed to appear in person or through their legal counsel.
The Court determined that all the procedural requirements for a disenrollment had been met by the party and the Petitioners. Based upon the evidence presented, the determination of the Working Families party committee, and the voters’ failure to appear, the Court found that the disenrollment had been “just” and ordered the Rockland County Board of Elections to disenroll the Working Families Party voters that had been challenged.
This disenrollment will have the immediate impact of preventing any of the challenged voters from voting in any Working Families Party primaries held on June 23, 2026. As they are no longer enrolled party members, the voters would also be ineligible to seek to be elected to party positions (for instance, member of the county committee or judicial delegate). Additionally, they would not be permitted to seek most Working Families designations and/or nominations for public office without an authorization, or Wilson-Pakula, from the appropriate Working Families Party committee.
This disenrollment was only possible because of a controversial 2025 amendment to the Election Law. Prior to this amendment becoming law, only a county party chair or a subcommittee of the county committee appointed by the county chair could hear a challenge to a voter’s enrollment. This made it impossible for a party without an organized county committee and county chair from hearing challenges to a voter’s enrollment.
The 2025 amendment to the Election Law allowed disenrollments to be heard by a body or individual designated by a party’s state committee when the party does not have an organized county committee in a county. Because the Working Families Party is the only recognized party in New York State with no organized county committees, the new law was seen by many political observers as a political favor to the WFP leadership.
While the process for disenrolling voters, due to the 2025 amendment to the Election Law, has arguably become easier, it has the potential to continue to be lengthy and expensive. Because the challenged voters failed to appear at the hearing or in Court, this matter was resolved quickly and in the party committee’s favor. But future disenrollments where voters aggressively oppose their expulsion from a party are likely to be time-consuming and costly for the party committee seeking the disenrollments.
Party leaders undertaking a disenrollment should be mindful of the procedural pitfalls in the disenrollment process as well as the time constraints on initiating a disenrollment proceeding imposed by the Election Law. Before undertaking a disenrollment, party leaders should get an honest assessment of their chances for success by a competent and experienced attorney.
