Bill Text: NY S05305 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Enacts the "non-partisan election act" to provide for the nomination for election to a public office to persons who acquire the necessary number of signatures on nominating petitions; eliminates party designations on all ballots.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-08 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS [S05305 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-S05305-Amended.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
5305--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
May 16, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sen. BALL -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to enacting the "non-par-
tisan election act" relating to the nomination and designation of
candidates for elected office and the form of the ballots for such
offices; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "non-partisan election act".
3 S 2. Subdivisions 2, 3 and 7 of section 6-104 of the election law,
4 subdivision 7 as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 1978, are amended
5 to read as follows:
6 2. The state committee shall make a decision by majority vote. The
7 person receiving the majority vote shall be the party's designated
8 candidate for nomination[, and all other persons who shall have received
9 twenty-five percent or more of the vote cast on any ballot shall have
10 the right to make written demand, duly acknowledged, to the state board
11 of elections that their names appear on the primary ballot as candidates
12 for such nomination. Such demand shall be made not later than seven days
13 after such meeting and may be withdrawn in the same manner within four-
14 teen days after such meeting].
15 3. In the absence of a party rule forming and designating the members
16 of a committee to fill any vacancy in designations which may occur after
17 the state committee has adjourned its meeting and before the [primary]
18 GENERAL election, the state committee shall also enact a resolution
19 forming such a committee and selecting the members of same.
20 7. Within four days after such meeting, the state committee shall file
21 with the state board of elections.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10714-02-3
S. 5305--A 2
1 (a) The names of persons who have received the designation of the
2 state committee and the offices for which designated[, and the name of
3 each person who received twenty-five percent or more, of the vote on any
4 ballot and the offices for which they received such vote].
5 (b) The names of the persons selected as the committee to fill vacan-
6 cies or a certified copy of the party rule forming and empowering such a
7 committee to fill vacancies.
8 S 3. Subdivision 1 of section 6-108 of the election law, as amended by
9 chapter 160 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
10 1. [In any town in a county having a population of over seven hundred
11 fifty thousand inhabitants, as shown by the latest federal decennial or
12 special population census, party nominations of candidates for town
13 offices shall be made at the primary preceding the election.] In [any
14 other] EVERY town, nominations of candidates for town offices shall be
15 made by caucus [or primary election as the rules of the county committee
16 shall provide, except that the members of the county committee from a
17 town may adopt by a two-thirds vote, a rule providing that the party
18 candidates for town offices shall be nominated at the primary election.
19 If a rule adopted by the county committee of a political party or by the
20 members of the county committee from a town, provides that party candi-
21 dates for town offices, shall be nominated at a primary election, such
22 rule shall not apply to nor affect a primary held less than four months
23 after a certified copy of the rule shall have been filed with the board
24 of elections. After the filing of such a rule, the rule shall continue
25 in force until a certified copy of a rule revoking the same shall have
26 been filed with such board at least four months before a subsequent
27 primary]. Such a caucus shall be held no earlier than the first day on
28 which designating petitions [for the fall primary election] may be
29 signed.
30 S 4. Section 6-110 of the election law, as amended by chapter 9 of the
31 laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
32 S 6-110. Party nominations; public office. All other party nominations
33 of candidates for offices to be filled at a general election[, except as
34 provided for herein,] shall be made [at the primary election] BY THE
35 FILING OF NOMINATING PETITIONS PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE.
36 S 5. Section 6-116 of the election law, as amended by chapter 373 of
37 the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
38 S 6-116. Party nominations; election to fill a vacancy. A party nomi-
39 nation of a candidate for election to fill a vacancy in an elective
40 office required to be filled at the next general election, occurring
41 after seven days before the last day for circulating designating
42 petitions or after the holding of the meeting or convention to nominate
43 or designate candidates for such, shall be made[, after the day of the
44 primary election,] by a majority vote of a quorum of the state committee
45 if the vacancy occurs in an office to be filled by all voters of the
46 state, and otherwise by a majority vote of a quorum of the members of a
47 county committee or committees last elected in the political subdivision
48 in which such vacancy is to be filled, or by a majority of such other
49 committee as the rules of the party may provide. A certificate of nomi-
50 nation shall be filed as provided for herein.
51 S 6. Section 6-118 of the election law, as amended by chapter 9 of the
52 laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
53 S 6-118. [Designation and nomination] NOMINATION by petition. Except
54 as otherwise provided by this article, the [designation] NOMINATION of a
55 candidate for [party nomination at a primary election] ELECTION TO AN
56 OFFICE TO BE FILLED AT AN ELECTION and the nomination of a candidate for
S. 5305--A 3
1 election to a party position to be elected at a primary election shall
2 be by designating petition.
3 S 7. Subdivision 1 of section 6-120 of the election law is amended to
4 read as follows:
5 1. A petition, except as otherwise herein provided, for the purpose of
6 designating any person as a candidate for party nomination [at a primary
7 election] shall be valid only if the person so designated is an enrolled
8 member of the party referred to in said designating petition at the time
9 of the filing of the petition.
10 S 8. Sections 6-130, 6-132, 6-134 and 6-136 of the election law are
11 REPEALED.
12 S 9. Section 6-138 of the election law, the section heading and subdi-
13 vision 2 as amended by chapter 9 of the laws of 1978, subdivision 1 as
14 amended by chapter 709 of the laws of 1996, subdivision 3 as amended by
15 chapter 305 of the laws of 1992, paragraph a of subdivision 3 as amended
16 by chapter 306 of the laws of 1992, subdivision 4 as amended by chapter
17 88 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
18 S 6-138. [Independent nominations] NOMINATIONS; rules. 1. [Independent
19 nominations] NOMINATIONS for public office shall be made by a petition
20 containing the signatures of registered voters of the political unit for
21 which a nomination is made who are registered to vote. The name of a
22 person signing such a petition for an election for which voters are
23 required to be registered shall not be counted if the name of a person
24 who has signed such a petition appears upon another valid and effective
25 petition [designating or] nominating the same or a different person for
26 the same office.
27 2. [Except as otherwise provided herein, the form of, and the rules
28 for a nominating petition shall conform to the rules and requirements
29 for designating petitions contained in this article.
30 3. a. The name selected for the independent body making the nomination
31 shall be in English characters and shall not include the name or part of
32 the name or an abbreviation of the name or part of the name, nor shall
33 the emblem or name be of such a configuration as to create the possibil-
34 ity of confusion with the emblem or name of a then existing party, or
35 the emblem or name of an independent body selected by a previously filed
36 independent nominating petition for the same office.
37 b. Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph a of this subdivi-
38 sion, if the emblem or name selected for an independent body on any
39 independent nominating petition is the same as that selected by any
40 previously filed independent nominating petition for the same office,
41 the board of elections with which such later petition was filed shall,
42 not later than two days after the filing of such later filed petition,
43 send notice of such duplicate selection of emblem or name by first-class
44 mail, to the candidate for such office who was nominated by such later
45 filed petition, and that the candidate to whom such notice is required
46 to be sent may file with such board of elections, not later than seven
47 days after such notice was mailed, a certificate selecting a different
48 emblem or name.
49 c.] A. A person who has been nominated or who expects to be nominated
50 as the candidate of an independent body for the office of President of
51 the United States at any election for such office may, not later than
52 three days after the last day to file nominating petitions, file with
53 the state board of elections, a special certificate which shall be irre-
54 vocable, stating that such person does not wish to permit candidates for
55 any other office, except the office of Vice-President of the United
56 States, to appear on the ballot with the same name and emblem as the
S. 5305--A 4
1 independent body which has nominated or will nominate such candidate for
2 the office of President.
3 [d.] B. Not later than seven days after the last day to file nominat-
4 ing petitions, the state board of elections shall notify each local
5 board of elections of the name of each candidate for President of the
6 United States who has filed such a special certificate, together with
7 the name and emblem of the independent body selected on the petition
8 which nominated such candidate.
9 [e. If any candidate has been nominated for any other office by a
10 petition which selected the same name or emblem for an independent body
11 as the name or emblem selected on the petition which nominated a candi-
12 date for President of the United States who has filed a special certif-
13 icate pursuant to paragraph c of this subdivision, the board of
14 elections with which the petition nominating such candidate for such
15 other office was filed shall, not later than ten days after the last day
16 to file nominating petitions, send to each such candidate, by first
17 class mail, notice that a special certificate pursuant to paragraph c of
18 this subdivision has been filed and that the candidate to whom such
19 notice is sent may file with such board of elections, not later than
20 seven days after such notice was mailed, a certificate selecting a
21 different name and emblem.
22 f. If such a petition shall not show an emblem, or if the petition
23 shall fail to select a name for such independent body, or if pursuant to
24 the provisions of paragraph b or paragraph e of this subdivision, a
25 candidate shall fail to select another emblem or name for such independ-
26 ent body, the officer or board in whose office the petition is filed
27 shall select an emblem or name or both to distinguish the candidates
28 nominated thereby. The name and emblem shown upon such petition or
29 selected by a candidate authorized to make such selection by paragraph b
30 or paragraph e of this subdivision, or selected by an officer or board
31 shall also conform to the requirements of this chapter with respect to
32 names or emblems permitted to be selected by a party.
33 g. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall preclude a court of
34 competent jurisdiction from rejecting an independent nominating petition
35 if the court determines that fraud was involved in the selection of a
36 name or emblem.
37 4.] 3. A signature made earlier than six weeks prior to the last day
38 to file [independent] petitions shall not be counted. A signature on [an
39 independent] A petition for a special election made earlier than the
40 date of the proclamation calling the special election shall not be
41 counted.
42 S 10. Section 6-140 of the election law, as amended by chapter 709 of
43 the laws of 1996, paragraph a of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 235
44 of the laws of 2000, paragraph b of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter
45 246 of the laws of 2009, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 447 of the
46 laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
47 S 6-140. [Independent nominations] NOMINATIONS; form of petition. 1.
48 a. Each sheet of [an independent] A nominating petition shall be signed
49 in ink, shall contain the following information and shall be in substan-
50 tially the following form:
51 I, the undersigned, do hereby state that I am a registered voter of
52 the political unit for which a nomination for public office is hereby
53 being made, that my present place of residence is truly stated opposite
54 my signature hereto, and that I do hereby nominate the following named
55 person (or persons) as a candidate (or as candidates) for election to
56 public office (or public offices) to be voted for at the election to be
S. 5305--A 5
1 held on the ............ day of ................, 20...., [and that I
2 select the name ............................ (fill in name) as the name
3 of the independent body making the nomination (or nominations) and
4 ................ (fill in emblem) as the emblem of such body].
5 Place of residence
6 (also post office
7 Name of Public address
8 Candidate Office if not identical)
9 .......... ................. ..........................
10 .......... ................. ..........................
11 [I do hereby appoint ............................. (here insert the
12 names and addresses of at least three persons, all of whom shall be
13 registered voters within such political unit), as a committee to fill
14 vacancies in accordance with the provisions of the election law.]
15 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, the day and year
16 placed opposite my signature.
17 Date Name of Signer Residence
18 ...... ................ .......................
19 ...... ................ .......................
20 Town or city (except
21 in the city of New
22 York, the county)
.......................
.......................
23 b. There shall be appended at the bottom of each sheet a signed state-
24 ment of a witness who is a duly qualified voter of the state. Such a
25 statement shall be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an
26 affidavit, and if it contains a material false statement, shall subject
27 the person signing it to the same penalties as if he or she had been
28 duly sworn. The form of such statement shall be substantially as
29 follows:
30 STATEMENT OF WITNESS
31 I, ...................... (name of witness) state: I am a duly quali-
32 fied voter of the State of New York and now reside at
33 ........................................ (residence address).
34 Each of the individuals whose names are subscribed to this petition
35 sheet containing ........ (fill in number) signatures, subscribed the
36 same in my presence on the dates above indicated and identified himself
37 or herself to be the individual who signed this sheet.
38 I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as
39 the equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false
40 statement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly
41 sworn.
42 Date: ................ .........................
43 Signature of Witness
44 Witness identification information:
45 The following information must be completed prior to filing with the
46 board of elections in order for this petition sheet to be valid.
47 Town or City County
48 ............... .........
S. 5305--A 6
1 2. In lieu of the signed statement of a witness who is a duly quali-
2 fied voter of the state qualified to sign the petition, the following
3 statement signed by a notary public or commissioner of deeds shall be
4 accepted:
5 On the dates above indicated before me personally came each of the
6 voters whose signatures appear on this petition sheet containing
7 .......... (fill in number) signatures, who signed same in my presence
8 and who, being by me duly sworn, each for himself or herself, said that
9 the foregoing statement made and subscribed by him or her, was true.
10 Date: ......................
11 ................................
12 (Signature and official title
13 of officer administering oath)
14 3. The state board of elections shall prepare a sample form of [an
15 independent] A nominating petition which meets the requirements of this
16 section and shall distribute or cause such forms to be distributed to
17 each board of elections. Such forms shall be made available to the
18 public upon request, by the state board of elections and each such
19 board. Any petition that is a copy of such a sample shall be deemed to
20 meet the requirements of form imposed by this section.
21 S 11. Section 6-142 of the election law, as amended by chapter 79 of
22 the laws of 1992, paragraph (d-1) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter
23 418 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
24 S 6-142. [Independent nominations] NOMINATIONS; number of signatures.
25 1. [An independent] A nominating petition for candidates to be voted for
26 by all the voters of the state must be signed by at least fifteen thou-
27 sand voters, of whom at least one hundred shall reside in each of one-
28 half of the congressional districts of the State.
29 2. [An independent] A nominating petition for the nomination of candi-
30 dates for an office to be filled by the voters of any other political
31 unit must be signed by voters numbering five per centum of the total
32 number of votes cast for governor at the last gubernatorial election in
33 such unit, excluding blank and void votes, except that not more than
34 three thousand five hundred signatures shall be required upon any such
35 petition for any office to be filled in any political subdivision of the
36 state wholly outside the city of New York, and not more than the follow-
37 ing numbers of signatures shall be required upon any such petition for
38 the following public offices respectively:
39 (a) for any office to be filled in any county or portion thereof
40 outside the city of New York, one thousand five hundred;
41 (b) for any office to be filled by all the voters of the city of New
42 York, seven thousand five hundred;
43 (b-1) for any office to be filled by all the voters of any two coun-
44 ties in such city, four thousand;
45 (c) for any office to be filled by all the voters of any county or
46 borough in such city, four thousand;
47 (d) for any office to be filled by all the voters of any municipal
48 court district, three thousand signatures;
49 (d-1) for any office to be filled in the city of New York by all the
50 voters of any city council district, two thousand seven hundred;
51 (e) for any office to be filled by all the voters of any congressional
52 district, three thousand five hundred;
53 (f) for any office to be filled by all the voters of any state senato-
54 rial district, three thousand;
S. 5305--A 7
1 (g) for any office to be filled by all the voters of an assembly
2 district, one thousand five hundred;
3 (h) for the office of trustee of the Long Island Power Authority, five
4 hundred;
5 (i) for any office to be filled by the voters of any political subdi-
6 vision contained within another political subdivision except as herein
7 otherwise provided, not to exceed the number of signatures required for
8 the larger subdivision.
9 S 12. Section 6-152 of the election law is REPEALED.
10 S 13. Sections 6-160, 6-162, 6-164 and 6-166 of the election law are
11 REPEALED.
12 S 14. Subdivisions 2 and 8 of section 7-104 of the election law, as
13 amended by chapter 165 of the laws of 2010, are amended to read as
14 follows:
15 2. [The names of parties or independent bodies which contain more than
16 fifteen letters may, whenever limitations of space so require, be print-
17 ed on the ballot in an abbreviated form.] In printing the names of
18 candidates whose full names contain more than fifteen letters, only the
19 surname must be printed in full. The officer or board charged with the
20 duty of preparing the ballots shall request each such candidate to indi-
21 cate, in writing, the shortened form in which, subject to this
22 restriction, his name shall be printed. If no such indication is
23 received from such candidate within the time specified in the request,
24 such officer or board shall make the necessary determination.
25 8. With respect to candidates for the offices of governor and lieuten-
26 ant governor [of a party or independent body], ballots shall be printed
27 so that the names of such candidates for both offices shall appear in
28 the same row or column, with the name of the candidate for governor
29 appearing first and the ballot shall be so adjusted that both offices
30 are voted for jointly [and have but one designating letter or number].
31 S 15. Subdivisions 4, 5 and 7 of section 7-104 of the election law are
32 REPEALED.
33 S 16. Subdivisions 2, 7 and 11 of section 7-106 of the election law,
34 subdivision 7 as amended and subdivision 11 as renumbered by chapter 165
35 of the laws of 2010, are amended to read as follows:
36 2. All paper ballots of the same kind for the same polling place shall
37 be identical. A different, but in each case uniform style and size of
38 type, shall be used for printing the names of candidates, the titles of
39 offices, [political designations,] and the reading form of all questions
40 submitted. The names of candidates shall be printed in capital letters
41 in black-faced type.
42 7. Each such ballot shall be printed in sections in which the candi-
43 dates' names [and political designations], the ballot proposals and
44 other requisite matter shall each be boxed in by heavy black perpendic-
45 ular lines of equal width. In each such section shall be voting ovals or
46 squares which voters may fill in. If applicable, ovals or squares shall
47 be provided next to the blank spaces provided for a voter to write in a
48 name.
49 11. [The names of parties or independent bodies which contain more
50 than fifteen letters may, whenever limitations of space so require, be
51 printed on the ballot in an abbreviated form.] In printing the names of
52 candidates whose full names contain more than fifteen letters, only the
53 surname must be printed in full. The officer or board charged with the
54 duty of preparing the ballots shall request each such candidate to indi-
55 cate, in writing, the shortened form in which, subject to this
56 restriction, his name shall be printed. If no such indication is
S. 5305--A 8
1 received from such candidate within the time specified in the request,
2 such officer or board shall make the necessary determination. No emblem
3 shall occupy a space longer in any direction than the voting square to
4 which it relates.
5 S 17. Section 7-114 of the election law is REPEALED.
6 S 18. Section 7-116 of the election law, subdivision 2 as amended by
7 chapter 234 of the laws of 1976, subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 9
8 of the laws of 1978, subdivision 3-a as added by chapter 143 of the laws
9 of 1996, subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 279 of the laws of 1992,
10 the second undesignated paragraph of subdivision 6 as amended by chapter
11 121 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
12 S 7-116. Ballots; order of names on. 1. In printing the names of
13 candidates on the ballot, the [candidate or candidates of the party
14 which polled for its candidate for the office of governor at the last
15 preceding election for such office the highest number of votes, shall be
16 row or column A or one and the candidates of the other parties shall be
17 placed on such ballot in descending order of such votes.
18 2. The] officer or board who or which prepares the ballot shall deter-
19 mine the order in which shall appear[, below] the names of [party] THE
20 candidates [the nominations made only by independent bodies. Such offi-
21 cer or board also shall determine the order in which shall be printed,
22 in a section of such ballot the names of two or more candidates nomi-
23 nated by one party or independent body, for an office to which two or
24 more persons are to be elected; provided, however, that any such candi-
25 date may, by a writing filed with such board or officer not later than
26 one week after the adjournment of the convention or one week after the
27 primary election nominating him, or otherwise not later than two days
28 after the filing of the petition or certificate nominating him, demand
29 that such order be determined by lot, and in that case such order shall
30 be so determined, upon two days notice by mail given by such board or
31 officer to each candidate for such office. The state board of elections
32 shall perform the duties required by this subdivision in all cases
33 affecting nominations filed in its] FOR EACH PUBLIC office.
34 [3. The officer or board with whom or which are filed the designations
35 for a public office or party position shall determine by lot, upon two
36 days notice by mail given by such board or officer to each candidate for
37 such office or position and to the committee, if any, named in the
38 designating petition, the order in which shall be printed on the offi-
39 cial primary ballot, under the title of the office or position, the
40 names of candidates for public office, the names of candidates for a
41 party position to which not more than one person is to be elected, and
42 the groups of names of candidates for party position where two or more
43 persons are to be elected thereto and any petition designates two or
44 more persons therefor, provided, however, that whenever groups of names
45 for more than one party position are designated by the same petition,
46 the order in which they shall be printed on the official primary ballot
47 shall be determined by a single lot. Candidates for delegate or deleg-
48 ates and alternate delegate or delegates to conventions designated by
49 the same petition shall, for the purpose of this subdivision, be treated
50 as one group. The names of candidates, if any, for a party position to
51 which two or more persons are to be elected, who are designated by indi-
52 vidual petitions and not in a group shall be printed below such group or
53 groups, in such order between themselves, as such officer or board shall
54 determine by lot upon the notice specified in this subdivision. The
55 names within a group of candidates designated for party position by one
56 petition shall be printed in the same order in which they appear in the
S. 5305--A 9
1 petition, unless they appear in a different order on different pages of
2 the petition, in which case their order within the group shall be deter-
3 mined by such officer or board by lot upon the notice specified in this
4 subdivision. Candidates for members of a state committee designated by a
5 single petition shall, for the purposes of this subdivision, be treated
6 as one group. However, the notice to a committee of the drawing need not
7 be mailed to more than five members, if there be that many, and as to
8 offices or party positions for which designating petitions are filed
9 with the board of elections of the city of New York the notice shall be
10 given to the committees only.
11 3-a. The state board of elections shall prescribe the method, or two
12 or more alternative methods, for making the determinations by lot
13 required by subdivisions two and three of this section. Each county
14 board of elections shall adopt one of such methods at least ninety days
15 before any election to which such method shall apply.
16 4.] 2. If a vacancy in a designation or nomination be filled after the
17 making, in the manner provided in this section, of a determination of
18 the order in which the names of candidates for the office or position
19 are to be printed, the name of the candidate designated or nominated to
20 fill such vacancy shall be printed in the place so determined for the
21 original candidate.
22 [5. The titles of public offices shall appear on ballots for primary
23 elections in the same consecutive order that they will appear on the
24 general election ballot. The titles of the party positions shall appear
25 in the following order: member of state committee, assembly district
26 leader, associate assembly district leader, members of county committee
27 in the city of New York, delegate or delegates to conventions, alternate
28 delegate or delegates to conventions, and members of county committee in
29 counties outside of the city of New York. Where, pursuant to the rules
30 of the county committee, the party position involved is that of assembly
31 district leader or associate assembly district leader for a part of an
32 assembly district, such part shall be so indicated in the title on the
33 ballot.
34 6. In the city of New York, the ballot on the voting machine for
35 primary elections shall conform to the following additional provisions:
36 The names of the candidates designated for such public office or party
37 position in the primary of a party shall be placed under the title of
38 the office or position in the alphabetical order of their surnames, in
39 the first or lowest numbered assembly district and election district of
40 any political unit or subdivision within a county. If candidates'
41 surnames are identical, their given or first name shall determine their
42 order. Thereafter the names shall be rotated by election districts by
43 transposing the first named candidate to the bottom of the order at each
44 succeeding election district, so that each name shall appear first and
45 in each other position in an equal number, as nearly as possible, of the
46 election districts and except, further, that where two or more candi-
47 dates are to be elected to the same party position, the names of candi-
48 dates for such a position which appear on the same designating petition
49 shall be grouped together on the ballot in the order in which their
50 names appear on the designating petition and the group rotated alphabet-
51 ically in relation to other groups or individual candidates according to
52 the surname of the first person on the designating petition of such
53 group. Groups of candidates for delegate and alternate delegate, and
54 groups of candidates for male and female delegate and male and female
55 alternate delegate to the same convention designated on the same peti-
56 tion shall be rotated together alphabetically in relation to other
S. 5305--A 10
1 groups or individual candidates according to the surname of the first
2 person listed on such designating petition in the group of candidates
3 for whichever of such delegate or alternate delegate positions will
4 appear first on the voting machine. If the rules of a party committee
5 provide for equal representation of the sexes among the members of a
6 state committee elected from each unit of representation, elections
7 for male and female members of such a committee from a single unit of
8 representation shall be conducted as elections for two different party
9 positions. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, if the
10 board of elections has assigned numbers to the candidates for an office
11 or position because of identical or similar names among such candidates,
12 the names of such candidates shall be placed under the title of such
13 office or position in the order of such numbers in such first or lowest
14 numbered district, and the names shall not be rotated by election
15 district. Such names shall appear in the identical order on each ballot
16 in each election district.
17 County committee candidates or groups of candidates shall be printed
18 within the first election district of each assembly district or part
19 thereof, according to the priority of filing of designating petitions
20 and they shall then be rotated by election district by placing the
21 candidate or group of candidates designated in the same petition as the
22 candidate or group of candidates which was printed first in an election
23 district at the bottom of the order in the next succeeding election
24 district in which a candidate or group of candidates designated in such
25 petition appears on the ballot.
26 In cases where a name is added to or removed from the ballot by court
27 order too late to make a complete adjustment to these requirements
28 feasible, the name may be added at the bottom of the list of candidates
29 in all election districts, or removed from the ballot in all election
30 districts without changing the previously arranged order of other names
31 and without invalidating the election. Any inadvertent error in the
32 order of names discovered too late to correct the order of the names on
33 the ballots concerned shall not invalidate an election.
34 Except where a contest or candidate is removed from the ballot by
35 court order too late to make complete compliance with this paragraph
36 feasible, the title of each public office or party position and the
37 names of the candidates for such office or position appearing on any
38 voting machine used for primary elections in the city of New York shall
39 appear on such machine immediately adjacent to one another, either
40 horizontally or vertically; and no blank spaces shall separate the names
41 of candidates actually running for an office or party position on such
42 voting machine, and no blank spaces shall separate any two such offices
43 or positions which appear on such voting machine in the same column or
44 row.]
45 S 19. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
46 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
