§ 6-154 — Nominations and designations; objections to

New York § 6-154

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ELN: Election
• Art. 6: Designation and Nomination of Candidates

Text

§ 6-154. Nominations and designations; objections to. 1. Any petition\nor certificate filed with the officer or board charged with the duty of\nreceiving it shall be presumptively valid if it is in proper form and\nappears to bear the requisite number of signatures, authenticated in a\nmanner prescribed by this chapter.\n 2. Written objections to any certificate of designation or nomination\nor to a nominating or designating petition or a petition for opportunity\nto ballot for public office or to a certificate of acceptance, a\ncertificate of authorization, a certificate of declination or a\ncertificate of substitution relating thereto may be filed by any voter\nregistered to vote for such public office and to a designating petition\nor a petition for opportunity to ballot for party position or a\ncertificate of substitution, a certificate of acceptance or a\ncertificate of declination relating thereto by any voter enrolled to\nvote for such party position. Such objections shall be filed with the\nofficer or board with whom the original petition or certificate is filed\nwithin three days after the filing of the petition or certificate to\nwhich objection is made, or within three days after the last day to file\nsuch a certificate, if no such certificate is filed except that if any\nperson nominated by an independent nominating petition, is nominated as\na party candidate for the same office by a party certificate filed, or a\nparty nomination made after the filing of such petition, the written\nobjection to such petition may be filed within three days after the\nfiling of such party certificate or the making of such party nomination.\nWhen such an objection is filed, specifications of the grounds of the\nobjections shall be filed within six days thereafter with the same\nofficer or board and if specifications are not timely filed, the\nobjection shall be null and void.\n * 3. Written objections to any certificate of nomination or to a\ncertificate of acceptance, a certificate of authorization, a certificate\nof declination or a certificate of substitution relating to a special\nelection held pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision three of section\nforty-two of the public officers law may be filed by any voter\nregistered to vote for such public office. Such objections shall be\nfiled with the officer or board with whom the original certificate is\nfiled within one day after the filing of the certificate to which\nobjection is made, or within one day after the last day to file such a\ncertificate, if no such certificate is filed. When such objections are\nfiled, specifications of the grounds of the objections shall be filed\nwithin three days thereafter with the same officer or board and if\nspecifications are not timely filed, the objections shall be null and\nvoid.\n * NB There are 2 sb 3's\n * 3. (a) Any person filing general objections to any designating\npetition, independent nominating petition or certificate of nomination\nor ballot access document who thereafter files specifications of his or\nher objections to any such document shall do so in accordance with the\nprovisions of this subdivision. All such specifications shall\nsubstantially comply with the following requirements:\n (i) for specifications relating to any petition, the volume number,\npage number, and line number of any signature objected to on any\npetition shall be set forth in detail. In addition, any portion of any\npetition or any signature line or witness statement objected to shall be\nspecifically identified and reasons given for any such objection;\n (ii) the total number of signatures objected to shall be set forth and\nall objections relating to a single signature line should be grouped\ntogether; and\n (iii) symbols and/or abbreviations may be used to set forth\nobjections, provided that a sheet explaining the meaning of any such\nsymbols and/or abbreviations is attached to the specifications.\n (b) No specifications of objections to any petition, certificate of\nnomination or ballot access document will be considered unless the\nobjector filing the specifications personally delivers or mails by\novernight mail a duplicate copy of the specification to each candidate\nfor public office named on the petition. Objections and specifications\nto a petition for an opportunity to ballot must be served on the persons\nnamed as the committee to receive notices. In the case of a petition\ncontaining candidates for party positions, service of the specifications\nshall be made on either the named candidates or the first person named\non the petition's committee to fill vacancies. Service shall be made on\nor before the date of filing of any specifications with the officer or\nboard. Proof of service shall accompany the specifications or be\nreceived by the end of two business days following the filing of the\nspecifications, whichever is later.\n * NB There are 2 sb 3's\n 4. (a) Such officer or board shall give notice by overnight mail to\nthe objector and the candidate named in such petition or certificate of\nthe date or dates on which such officer or board shall consider the\nspecifications filed, and board findings, the result of and research of\nthe specifications, and shall make a determination as to the sufficiency\nof such petition or certificate. Copies of the board's research of\nspecifications shall accompany such notice. Such notice may be given by\nelectronic correspondence in lieu of overnight mail with the consent of\nthe objector or the candidate in accordance with subdivision seven of\nthis section. Such officer or board shall provide the objector and\ncandidate or their agent or agents an opportunity to be heard as to the\nvalidity of each specific objection. Such opportunity may be by written\nsubmission or oral presentation in the discretion of such officer or\nboard. Such officer or board shall not deny the objector or the\ncandidate or their agent or agents an opportunity to be present when the\ndetermination as to validity is made.\n (b) For objections and specifications made to ballot access documents\nfiled with the state board of elections, the provisions of paragraph (a)\nof this subdivision shall apply. However, the opportunity to be heard as\nto the validity or invalidity of such specifications shall be provided\nin a hearing which precedes any meeting of the state board's\ncommissioners at which determinations will be rendered.\n 5. When any determination is made that a certificate or petition is\nsufficient or insufficient, such officer or board shall give notice of\nthe determination forthwith by mail to each candidate named in the\npetition or certificate, and, if the determination is made upon\nspecified objections, the objector shall be notified. Such notice may be\ngiven by electronic correspondence in lieu of mail with the consent of\nthe candidate or the objector in accordance with subdivision seven of\nthis section. Such candidate or objector may designate an attorney or\nagent to receive any such notice and/or determination on his or her\nbehalf. Any such designation shall be in writing and include the name,\naddress, email and telephone number of any such attorney or agent, and\nany such attorney and/or agent shall be eligible to represent any such\ncandidate or objector in any proceeding relating to the specifications.\n 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require an objection\nor hearing if the board of elections by majority vote determines that a\nfiling does not meet the criteria of subdivision one of this section to\nbe presumptively valid.\n 7. For the purposes of this section, a candidate or objector shall be\ndeemed to have consented to electronic correspondence if, having been\nadvised conspicuously that enrollment or registration is voluntary and\nthat they may continue to receive notices by mail as provided in this\nsection, they instead affirmatively choose to receive such notices by\nelectronic correspondence only.\n