Denis Slattery is reporting for the New York Daily News a federal judge September 1, denied a preliminary injunction in a suit brought by the Working Families Party and Serve America Movement Party seeking to block new vote thresholds for maintaining their official status in New York. The parties “failed to demonstrate that allowing the amended party qualification requirements to take effect would violate their Constitutional rights, otherwise cause irreparable harm,” U.S. District Judge John Koeltl wrote in his ruling. The suit was filed in Manhattan Federal Court in an attempt to block a state election law requiring all political parties to run a presidential candidate this year, and receive either 2 percent of the total vote or 130,000 votes to maintain a statewide ballot line. Previously, parties seeking automatic ballot access needed to receive 50,000 votes in the prior gubernatorial election to maintain a spot. Koeltl wrote that the new thresholds are well within the election law requirements “upheld in other cases and further the reasonable goals of avoiding overcrowded ballots and voter confusion and ensuring that candidates who appear on the ballot enjoy a ’modicum of support.’ ” Read the full story at msn [dot] com.