N.Y. ELN Law § 15-108 — New York Code / Act ELN / Article 15 / Section 15-108
Designation and nomination of candidates
Status: in_force

§ 15-108. Designation and nomination of candidates. 1. Nominations of\ncandidates for elective village offices shall be made as provided in\nthis section.\n  2. a. Party nominations of candidates for village offices in any\ncounty shall be made at a party caucus or, if the rules of the county\ncommittee, heretofore or hereafter adopted consistent with the\nprovisions of this chapter so provide, at a primary election. If the\nrules of the county committee of any political party provide that party\nnominations for village offices of that party in any or all villages in\nthe county shall be made at a village primary election, such primary\nelection shall be held forty-nine days prior to the date of the village\nelection. In the event there is no village committee with a chairman,\nthe chairman of the county committee or such other person or body as the\nrules of such committee may provide, shall designate an enrolled member\nof the party who is a qualified voter of the village as the village\nelection chairman. Such village chairman shall have general party\nresponsibility for the conduct of the village caucus or primary\nelection. For the purposes of this section, a village shall be deemed to\nbe located within a county for the purposes of county political\norganization if more than fifty percent of the population of the village\nas shown by the last federal decennial, or special census resides in\nthat portion of the village located in that county. Such nomination\nshall be made not more than fifty-six, nor less than forty-nine days\nprior to the date of the village election.\n  b. A notice of any village primary held for making party nominations\nof candidates for village offices to be filled at a village election\nshall be given by the proper party authorities by publication at least\nonce in each of the two weeks preceding the primary in at least one\nnewspaper of general circulation within the village.\n  c. A notice of any party caucus held for making party nominations for\nvillage offices for village elections shall be given by the proper party\nauthorities by posting such notice in the public areas at the offices of\nthe village clerk and by filing such notice with such clerk at least ten\ndays preceding the day of the caucus and, either by newspaper\npublication thereof once within the village at least one week and not\nmore than two weeks preceding the caucus, or by posting such notice in\nsix public places in the village at least ten days preceding the day of\nthe caucus.\n  d. The notice shall specify the time and place or places, and the\npurpose of such caucus or primary, including the offices for which\ncandidates will be nominated thereat. For such village primary or caucus\nthere shall be one or more polling places in each subdivision from which\na candidate is nominated. There shall be a chairman and a secretary and\ntellers for each such village primary or caucus, who shall be appointed\nby the appropriate party officials. No person shall participate in such\nprimary or caucus who is not a resident of the village and an enrolled\nvoter of the party conducting the primary or caucus. At any primary or\ncaucus in which nominees are chosen by vote of the people in attendance,\nthe person eligible and receiving the highest number of votes for an\noffice shall be deemed nominated. Such village primary or caucus shall\nnot be conducted at any expense to the village.\n  e. Any party nomination made at any such caucus or village primary\nshall be evidenced by the filing with the village clerk of a certificate\nof nomination in the form prescribed by this chapter, as provided in\nsubdivision seven of this section. There shall be filed, together with\nsuch certificate, or within five days after the village clerk sends the\nnotice of failure to file prescribed by this paragraph, a list of\nenrolled members of the party who have participated in such caucus or\nprimary. If such list is not filed with such certificate, the village\nclerk shall forthwith send notice of the failure to file such list to\nthe persons who signed such certificate, by first class mail, together\nwith a notice that such list must be filed within five days after such\nnotice was mailed. Such list shall be certified by the presiding officer\nor secretary of such caucus or primary.\n  3. a. Party designations for elective village offices shall be made on\na designating petition containing the signatures in ink of residents of\nthe village who are registered to vote with the appropriate county board\nof elections at the time of signing and who are enrolled in such\npolitical party. The sheets of such a petition shall be numbered. Such\npetition must set forth in each instance the correct date of signing,\nthe name of the signer, and his or her present address, and may set\nforth a committee to fill vacancies consisting of at least three\nqualified voters of the village enrolled in such party and their\nresidence within the village. A signer need not himself or herself fill\nin the date or residence. Each sheet of such petition must be in\nsubstantially the following form and shall contain all the information\nrequired therein:\n                       PARTY DESIGNATING PETITION\n  I, the undersigned do hereby state that I am a registered voter of the\nVillage of ...... and a duly enrolled voter of the ........ party and\nentitled to vote at the next primary election of such party, that my\nplace of residence is truly stated opposite my signature hereto, and I\nhereby designate the following named person (or persons) as a candidate\n(or candidates) for nomination of such party for the public office (or\npublic offices) to be voted for at the primary election to be held on\nthe ...... day of ........... 20.... as hereinafter specified.\n                          Public Office\n                          (include district\n                          number, if\n    Name of Candidate     applicable)        Term       Residence\n  ....................  .................   .......   ...............\n  ....................  .................   .......   ...............\n  I do hereby appoint (insert names and addresses of at least three\npersons, all of whom shall be enrolled voters of said party) as a\ncommittee to fill vacancies in accordance with the provisions of the\nelection law.\n  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand, the day and year\nplaced opposite my signature.\n    Date             Name            Residence\n  .............    .............   ...............\n  .............    .............   ...............\n                          STATEMENT OF WITNESS\n  I ............... (name of witness) state: I am a duly qualified voter\nof the State of New York; and an enrolled voter of the ......... party.\nI now reside at ..............(residence address). Each of the persons\nwhose names are subscribed to this petition sheet\ncontaining ......... signatures, subscribed his or her name in my\npresence.\n  I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as\nthe equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false\nstatement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly\nsworn.\n  b.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the number of\nsignatures required on a designating petition shall be five percent of\nthe number of enrolled voters of the party residing in the village.  For\nthe purpose of determining the number of enrolled voters of a party\nresiding in the village, the clerk shall be furnished with an official\ncertified list of all such enrolled party voters residing in the village\nby the county board of elections of the county in which all or part of\nthe village is located.  Such list shall be filed in the village clerk's\noffice and shall be available upon request for inspection by any\ninterested person.\n  4. Independent nominations for elective village offices shall be made\nby a petition containing the signatures in ink of residents of the\nvillage who are registered with the appropriate county board of\nelections at the time of signing or who are residents of the village who\nwere on the list of registered voters for the last village election in\nsuch village. The sheets of such a petition shall be numbered. Such\npetition must set forth in each instance the correct date of signing,\nthe name of the signer and his or her present address, and may set forth\na committee to fill vacancies consisting of at least three persons\nqualified to vote in the village election and their residence within the\nvillage. A signer need not himself or herself fill in the date or\nresidence. Each sheet of such petition must be in substantially the\nfollowing form and shall contain all the information required therein\nexcept as may otherwise be permitted by law.\n                 VILLAGE INDEPENDENT NOMINATING PETITION\n  I, the undersigned, do hereby state that I am a registered voter of\nthe Village of .........., that my present place of residence is truly\nstated opposite my signature, and I do hereby nominate the following\nnamed person (or persons) as a candidate (or as candidates) for election\nto public office (or public offices) to be voted for at the election to\nbe held on the ..... day of ........, 20....., and that I select the\nname .............. (fill in name) as the name of the independent body\nmaking the nomination (or nominations) and ..... (fill in emblem) as the\nemblem of such body.\n                          Public Office\n                          (include district\n                          number, if\n    Name of Candidate     applicable)         Term        Residence\n  ....................  .................   ........    .................\n  ....................  .................   ........    .................\nI do hereby appoint _ _ _ _\n        Name                            Residence\n  .............................   .................................\n  .............................   .................................\nas a committee to fill vacancies in accordance with the provisions of\nthe election law.\n  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have signed this petition on the day and year\nstated before my signature.\n    Date             Signature          Residence\n  .............    .................  ...............\n  .............    .................  ...............\n                          STATEMENT OF WITNESS\n  I, ............... state that I am a duly qualified voter of the State\nof New York. I now reside at .......... (residence address). Each of the\nvoters whose names are subscribed to this petition sheet,\ncontaining ........ (fill in number) signatures, subscribed his or her\nname in my presence.\n  I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as\nthe equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false\nstatement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly\nsworn.\n  Date ....................        ...........................\n                                      Signature of Witness\n  5. The name selected for the independent body making the nomination\nshall be in the English language and shall not include the name or part\nof the name, or an abbreviation of the name or of part of the name, of a\nthen existing party. The name and emblem shown upon such petition shall\nconform to the requirements of this chapter, relating to party names and\nparty emblems. If such a petition shall not show an emblem, or the\npetition shall fail to select a name for such independent body, the\nvillage clerk shall select an emblem or name, or both to distinguish the\ncandidates nominated thereby.\n  6. An independent nominating petition for a village office must be\nsigned by at least one hundred voters in villages containing a\npopulation of five thousand or more; by at least seventy-five voters in\nvillages containing a population of three thousand and less than five\nthousand; and by at least fifty voters in villages containing a\npopulation of one thousand and less than three thousand; and in villages\ncontaining a population of less than one thousand by voters numbering at\nleast five per centum of the number of voters at the last regular\nvillage election. For the purposes of this section, the population of a\nvillage shall be determined by the last federal decennial or local\nspecial population census federally supervised pursuant to section\ntwenty of the general municipal law.\n  7. a. A certificate of party nomination for an office to be filled at\nthe time of a general or special village election for offices shall be\nfiled not earlier than fifty-four days nor later than forty-seven days\npreceding the election.\n  b. A certificate of acceptance or declination of a party nomination\nfor an office to be filled at the time of a general or special village\nelection shall be filed not later than forty-four days prior to such\nelection.\n  c. A certificate to fill a vacancy caused by declination of a party\nnomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general or\nspecial village election shall be filed not later than forty-one days\nprior to such election.\n  d. Party designating petitions for a village primary election shall be\nfiled in the office of the village clerk not earlier than twenty-two\ndays nor later than fifteen days prior to the primary election. Upon\nsuch a filing, the village clerk shall immediately notify the village\nelection chairman of such party and the person or persons designated in\nsuch petition of the fact of such filing and that such petition may be\ninspected in his office.\n  (e) A written declination of a party designation must be filed in the\noffice of the village clerk within three days of the date of the filing\nof the designating petition. Upon the filing of such declination, the\nvillage clerk shall, within one day notify the committee to fill\nvacancies named in the petition. A certificate to fill the vacancy\ncaused by a declination or any other reason must be filed with the\nvillage clerk within three days after the date of the notice to the\ncommittee to fill vacancies and shall have appended thereto the written\nconsent of the person or persons designated.\n  8. a. An independent nominating petition for an office to be filled at\nthe time of a general or special village election shall be filed not\nearlier than forty-two days nor later than thirty-five days preceding\nthe election.\n  b. A certificate of acceptance or declination of an independent\nnomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general or\nspecial village election shall be filed not later than three days after\nthe last day to file the petition which made such independent\nnomination.\n  c. A certificate to fill a vacancy caused by a declination of an\nindependent nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a\ngeneral or special village election for offices shall be filed not later\nthan three days after the last day to file the certificate of\ndeclination, and shall have appended thereto the written consent of the\nperson or persons nominated.\n  9. Any village resident who is a registered voter of the village and,\nin the case of a designating petition, an enrolled member of the party\nfiling the petition, may sign an independent nominating petition or a\ndesignating petition providing that: (a) such signature was not made\nmore than six weeks prior to the last day to file such petition; (b) he\nhas not signed more than one petition designating or nominating a\ncandidate for mayor or village justice. If he has signed more than one\nsuch petition, only the earliest signature for each such office shall be\nvalid; (c) he has not signed more than one petition designating or\nnominating a candidate for each vacancy which exists for the office of\nvillage trustee or village justice if the village has provided for two\nsuch justices. If he has signed more than one such petition for each\nsuch vacancy, only the earlier signatures shall be valid; or (d) he does\nnot vote at a primary election or party caucus where a candidate was\nnominated for the same office or each such vacancy.\n  10.  A written objection to an independent nominating petition,\ndesignating petition or certificate of nomination shall be filed in the\noffice of the village clerk no later than one day following the last\ndate upon which such petition or certificate may be filed or within one\nday after such petition or certificate is received by the village clerk,\nif such petition or certificate is mailed as provided by law, whichever\nis later. Written specifications of the grounds of the objections shall\nbe filed with the village clerk within two days after the filing of the\nwritten objection. A failure to file such written specifications shall\nrender the original objection null and void. Upon receipt of such\nwritten specification, the village clerk shall forthwith notify each\ncandidate named in the petition or certificate and shall notify the\ncounty board of elections of the county in which the village is located.\nFor purposes of this section, a village shall be deemed to be located\nwithin a county if more than fifty percent of the population of the\nvillage as shown by the last federal decennial or special census resides\nin that portion of the village located in that county. Upon receipt of\nthe written specifications as herein required, the county board of\nelections shall immediately take all steps necessary and consistent with\nthis chapter to render a determination on the questions raised in such\nobjections and specifications. When a determination has been made by the\ncounty board of elections that the petition is sufficient or\ninsufficient, it shall immediately notify the village clerk and each\ncandidate named in the petition or certificate, and, if such\ndetermination was made on objection, the objector.\n