§ 1-104 — Definitions

New York § 1-104

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ELN: Election
• Art. 1: General Provisions

Text

§ 1-104. Definitions. The terms used in this chapter shall have the\nsignificance herein defined unless another meaning is clearly apparent\nin language or context. 1. The term "political unit" means the state or\nany political subdivision thereof or therein.\n 2. The term "unit of representation" means any political unit from\nwhich members of any committee or delegates to a party convention shall\nbe elected as provided in this chapter.\n 3. The term "party" means any political organization which, excluding\nblank and void ballots, at the last preceding election for governor\nreceived, at least two percent of the total votes cast for its candidate\nfor governor, or one hundred thirty thousand votes, whichever is\ngreater, in the year in which a governor is elected and at least two\npercent of the total votes cast for its candidate for president, or one\nhundred thirty thousand votes, whichever is greater, in a year when a\npresident is elected.\n 4. The term "party position" means membership on a party committee or\nthe position of delegate or alternate to a party convention.\n 5. The term "party officer" means one who holds any party position or\nany party office whether by election, appointment or otherwise.\n 6. The term "committee" means any committee chosen, in accordance with\nthe provisions of this chapter, to represent the members of a party in\nany political unit.\n 7. The term "designation" means any method in accordance with the\nprovisions of this chapter by which candidates for party nomination for\npublic office or for election to party position may be named for the\npurpose of any primary election.\n 8. The term "official ballot" refers to the paper ballot on which the\nvoter casts his vote, or the face of a voting machine as prepared for\nthe voter to cast his vote at any election held in accordance with the\nprovisions of this chapter.\n 9. The terms "primary" or "primary election" mean only the mandated\nelection at which enrolled members of a party may vote for the purpose\nof nominating party candidates and electing party officers.\n 10. The terms "uncontested office" and "uncontested position", used in\nconnection with a primary election of a party, mean an office or\nposition for which the number of candidates designated does not exceed\nthe number to be nominated or elected thereto by the party, and for\nwhich no valid petition of enrolled members of the party requesting an\nopportunity to write in the name of an undesignated candidate has been\nfiled.\n 11. The term "nomination" means the selection in accordance with the\nprovisions of this chapter of a candidate for an office authorized to be\nfilled at an election.\n 12. The term "independent body" means any organization or group of\nvoters which nominates a candidate or candidates for office to be voted\nfor at an election, and which is not a party as herein provided.\n 13. The term "independent nomination" means nomination by an\nindependent body.\n 14. Words of masculine gender include the feminine except where the\nprovision clearly applies to only one sex.\n 15. The term "veterans' hospital" means any sanitarium, hospital,\nsoldiers' and sailors' home, United States Veterans' Administration\nHospital, or other home or institution, which is used, operated and\nconducted exclusively for the care, maintenance and treatment of persons\nserving in the military or naval service or coast guard of the United\nStates or the state of New York, or persons who (a) were honorably\ndischarged from such service, or (b) have a qualifying condition, as\ndefined in section one of the veterans' services law, and have received\na discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service, or\n(c) are a discharged LGBT veteran, as defined in section one of the\nveterans' services law, and have received a discharge other than bad\nconduct or dishonorable from such service.\n 16. The term "county legislative body" shall mean the elected\ngoverning body of a county, and in the city of New York, the city\ncouncil.\n 17. The term "ballot proposal" means any constitutional amendment,\nproposition, referendum or other question submitted to the voters at any\nelection.\n 18. The word "ballot" when referring to voting machines or systems\nmeans that portion of the cardboard or paper or other material or\nelectronic display within the ballot frame containing the name of the\ncandidate and the emblem of the party organization by which he was\nnominated, of the form of submission of a proposed constitutional\namendment, proposition referendum or question as provided in this\nchapter, with the word "yes" for voting for any question or the word\n"no" for voting against any question except that where the question or\nproposition is submitted only to the voters of a territory wholly within\na county or city, such form shall be determined by the county board of\nelections. Such statement and the title shall be printed and/or\ndisplayed in the largest type or display which it is practicable to use\nin the space provided.\n 19. The term "ballot label" means the printed strips of cardboard or\npaper used on the voting machine containing the names of the candidates\nnominated, and the questions submitted.\n 20. The term "write-in ballot" means a vote cast for a person whose\nname does not appear on the ballot labels.\n 21. The term "protective counter" means a separate counter built into\nthe voting machine that cannot be reset, and which records the total\nnumber of movements of the operating lever.\n 22. The term "residence" shall be deemed to mean that place where a\nperson maintains a fixed, permanent and principal home and to which he,\nwherever temporarily located, always intends to return.\n 23. The term "voting machine custodian" shall mean a city, town or\nboard of elections employee charged with the duty of repairing and\nmaintaining voting machines.\n 24. The term "major political parties" means the two parties which\npolled for their respective candidates for the office of governor the\nhighest and next highest number of votes at the last preceding election\nfor such office.\n 25. The term "election officer" shall mean any person who, pursuant to\nthe provisions of this chapter, performs any official duty or function\nin the electoral process.\n 26. The term "board of elections" shall mean the board of elections of\nany county in the state of New York and the board of elections of the\ncity of New York and with respect to villages located in more than one\ncounty, shall mean the board of elections of that county containing more\nthan fifty percent of the population of the village as shown by the last\nfederal decennial or special census.\n 27. The term "personal application" means a signed writing which may\nbe delivered by mailing or in person.\n 28. The term "caucus" shall mean an open meeting held in a political\nsubdivision to nominate the candidates of a political party for public\noffice to be elected in such subdivision at which all the enrolled\nvoters of such party residing in such subdivision are eligible to vote.\n 29. The term "ballot label programming" means any computerized\ninstructions which control the placement or the printing of candidates'\nnames and ballot proposals on voting machines of a type approved after\nSeptember first, nineteen hundred eighty-six.\n 30. The term "ballot label programming data" means the names and\nballot positions of candidates and ballot proposals stored on any\ncomputerized device through the use of ballot label programming.\n 31. The term "resident vote tabulation programming" means the\npermanent computerized instructions which are built into any approved\nvoting machine or equipment and which control the recordation,\naggregation, tabulation, storage and printing of votes by any such\nmachine or equipment.\n 32. "General village election" means the annual or biennial election\nfor village officers.\n 33. "Special village election" means any election of village officers,\nother than the general village election.\n 34. "Village primary" means any election held by a political party for\nthe purpose of nominating candidates for elective village offices.\n 35. The term "election" shall include a "general village election" or\n"special village election" except where a specific provision of this\nchapter may not be consistently applied to the village election\nprocedure.\n 36. "Name stamp" means any device which, when applied with ink or\nother permanent dye, can be used to imprint a person's name to a\nwrite-in ballot permanently.\n 37. The term "inactive status" means a category of registered voters\nwho have failed to respond to a residence confirmation notice provided\nfor by section 5-712 of this chapter and whose registrations have\nneither been restored to the active registration rolls nor been\ncancelled pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.\n 38. "Computer generated registration list" means a printed or\nelectronic list of voters in alphabetical order for a single election\ndistrict or poll site, generated from a computer registration file for\neach election and containing for each voter listed, a facsimile of the\nsignature of the voter. Such a list may be in a single volume or in more\nthan one volume. The list may be utilized in place of registration poll\nrecords, to establish a person's eligibility to vote in the polling\nplace on election day.\n (a) The state board of elections shall promulgate minimum security\nstandards for any electronic device, and any network or system to which\nthe electronic device is connected, that is used to store or otherwise\naccess a computer generated registration list, and shall also promulgate\na list of devices that are approved for use. No local board of elections\nshall be permitted to use such a device unless the state board of\nelections has previously approved the device for use and has certified\nthat the network or system to which the electronic device is connected\nis compliant with the minimum security standards.\n (b) The minimum security standards for such devices shall be\ncommensurate with the level of security risk applicable to such devices\nand shall specifically take into account any security risk associated\nwith voting equipment-related supply chains in addition to any other\napplicable security risk.\n (c) The state board of elections shall promulgate minimum redundancy\nprocedures to ensure a list of registration records is available that\nprovides necessary information in a compressed format to ensure voting\ncontinues if the electronic computer generated registration system\nbecomes unavailable for any poll site or election district that utilizes\nsuch an electronic computer generated registration list.\n 39. The term "name" for purposes of designating or nominating a\ncandidate for public office or party position shall mean an individual's\nformal name or an alternate, anglicized, or familiar form of a name or\nnickname, notwithstanding the candidate's proper name as it appears on\nhis or her voter registration form, provided that such name is\ndemonstrated to be commonly used to identify the candidate in the\ncandidate's community, does not include a descriptive term, and further\nprovided that the use of such name is not intended to mislead or confuse\npotential signatories, and would not tend to confuse or mislead\npotential signatories, as to the candidate's identity.\n