§ 6-134 — Designating petition; rules

New York § 6-134

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

Text

§ 6-134. Designating petition; rules. 1. A designating petition may\ndesignate candidates for nomination for one or more different public\noffices or for nomination for election to one or more party positions or\nboth, but designations or nominations for which the petitions are\nrequired to be filed in different offices or petitions for the same\npublic office or party position in different political subdivisions may\nnot be combined in the same petition. If two or more offices having the\nsame title are to be filled for different terms, the terms of office\nshall be included as part of the title of the office.\n 1-a. A designating petition for the offices of governor and lieutenant\ngovernor shall be valid only if such petition jointly designates\ncandidates for both offices.\n 2. Sheets of a designating petition shall be delivered to the board of\nelections in the manner prescribed by regulations that shall be\npromulgated by the state board of elections, provided, however, that the\nsheets of any volume of a petition shall be numbered. Such regulations\nshall be no more restrictive than is reasonably necessary for the\nprocessing of such petitions by the board of elections. Such regulations\nshall be binding on the boards of election in each county and in the\ncity of New York. When a determination is made that a designating\npetition does not comply with such regulations, the candidate shall have\nthree business days from the date of such determination to cure the\nviolation.\n 3. If a voter shall sign any petition or petitions designating a\ngreater number of candidates for public office or party position than\nthe number of persons to be elected thereto his signatures, if they bear\nthe same date, shall not be counted upon any petition, and if they bear\ndifferent dates shall be counted in the order of their priority of date,\nfor only so many designees as there are persons to be elected.\n 4. A signature made earlier than thirty-seven days before the last day\nto file designating petitions for the primary election shall not be\ncounted.\n * 4-a. Notwithstanding the time fixed in subdivision four of this\nsection, for the year two thousand twenty-six, a signature made earlier\nthan forty-one days before the last day to file designating petitions\nfor the primary election, or a signature made later than the twelfth\nThursday preceding the primary election, shall not be counted.\n * NB Repealed December 31, 2026\n 5. The use of titles, initials or customary abbreviations of given\nnames by the signers of, or witnesses to, designating petitions or the\nuse of customary abbreviations of addresses of such signers or\nwitnesses, shall not invalidate such signatures or witness statement\nprovided that the identity of the signer or witness as a registered\nvoter can be established by reference to the signature on the petition\nand that of a person whose name appears in the registration poll\nledgers, provided, however, nothing in this section shall prevent a\ncourt from receiving sworn testimony or other admissible evidence as to\nthe authenticity of a signature when such signature would otherwise be\ninvalidated for not matching the signature on file with the board of\nelections.\n 6. An alteration or correction of information appearing on a signature\nline, other than the signature itself and the date, shall not invalidate\nsuch signature.\n 7. A signer need only place his signature upon the petition, and need\nnot himself fill in the other required information.\n 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the failure to\nlist a committee to fill vacancies or the failure to list at least three\neligible voters as a committee to fill vacancies shall not invalidate\nthe petition unless a vacancy occurs which, under law, may be filled\nonly by such a committee.\n 9. A person other than the subscribing witness may insert the\ninformation required by the subscribing witness statement, provided that\nall subscribing witness information required above the subscribing\nwitness' signature is inserted either before such subscribing witness\nsigns the statement or in the presence of such subscribing witness.\n 10. The provisions of this section shall be liberally construed, not\ninconsistent with substantial compliance thereto and the prevention of\nfraud.\n 11. If the number of signatures on any petition sheet is understated\nin the witness statement, such petition sheet shall not be invalid\nsolely because of such understatement, but such petition sheet will be\ndeemed to contain the number of signatures indicated on such witness\nstatement and the signatures at the end of such petition sheet that are\nin excess of the number so indicated shall be deemed not to have been\nfiled.\n 12. A signature on a petition sheet shall not be deemed invalid solely\nbecause the address provided is the post office address of the signer\nprovided that proof that such address is the accepted address of such\nsigner is provided to the board of elections no later than three days\nfollowing the receipt of specific objections to such signature.\n 13. In addition to the requirement for the signature, the printed name\nof the signer may be added, provided that the failure to provide a place\nto print the name or failure to print a name if a space is provided\nshall not invalidate the signature or petition.\n 14. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon receipt\nof a designating petition pursuant to this section, the board of\nelections of the city of New York shall provide notice to each candidate\ndesignated in such petition for election to a party position of a county\ncommittee located within the city of New York informing such candidate\nof such designation.\n