§ 15-108. Designation and nomination of candidates. 1. Nominations of
candidates for elective village offices shall be made as provided in
this section.
2. a. Party nominations of candidates for village offices in any
county shall be made at a party caucus or, if the rules of the county
committee, heretofore or hereafter adopted consistent with the
provisions of this chapter so provide, at a primary election. If the
rules of the county committee of any political party provide that party
nominations for village offices of that party in any or all villages in
the county shall be made at a village primary election, such primary
election shall be held forty-nine days prior to the date of the village
election. In the event there is no village committee with a chairman,
the chairman of the county committee or such other person or body as the
rules of such committee may provide, shall designate an enrolled member
of the party who is a qualified voter of the village as the village
election chairman. Such village chairman shall have general party
responsibility for the conduct of the village caucus or primary
election. For the purposes of this section, a village shall be deemed to
be located within a county for the purposes of county political
organization if more than fifty percent of the population of the village
as shown by the last federal decennial, or special census resides in
that portion of the village located in that county. Such nomination
shall be made not more than fifty-six, nor less than forty-nine days
prior to the date of the village election.
b. A notice of any village primary held for making party nominations
of candidates for village offices to be filled at a village election
shall be given by the proper party authorities by publication at least
once in each of the two weeks preceding the primary in at least one
newspaper of general circulation within the village.
c. A notice of any party caucus held for making party nominations for
village offices for village elections shall be given by the proper party
authorities by posting such notice in the public areas at the offices of
the village clerk and by filing such notice with such clerk at least ten
days preceding the day of the caucus and, either by newspaper
publication thereof once within the village at least one week and not
more than two weeks preceding the caucus, or by posting such notice in
six public places in the village at least ten days preceding the day of
the caucus.
d. The notice shall specify the time and place or places, and the
purpose of such caucus or primary, including the offices for which
candidates will be nominated thereat. For such village primary or caucus
there shall be one or more polling places in each subdivision from which
a candidate is nominated. There shall be a chairman and a secretary and
tellers for each such village primary or caucus, who shall be appointed
by the appropriate party officials. No person shall participate in such
primary or caucus who is not a resident of the village and an enrolled
voter of the party conducting the primary or caucus. At any primary or
caucus in which nominees are chosen by vote of the people in attendance,
the person eligible and receiving the highest number of votes for an
office shall be deemed nominated. Such village primary or caucus shall
not be conducted at any expense to the village.
e. Any party nomination made at any such caucus or village primary
shall be evidenced by the filing with the village clerk of a certificate
of nomination in the form prescribed by this chapter, as provided in
subdivision seven of this section. There shall be filed, together with
such certificate, or within five days after the village clerk sends the
notice of failure to file prescribed by this paragraph, a list of
enrolled members of the party who have participated in such caucus or
primary. If such list is not filed with such certificate, the village
clerk shall forthwith send notice of the failure to file such list to
the persons who signed such certificate, by first class mail, together
with a notice that such list must be filed within five days after such
notice was mailed. Such list shall be certified by the presiding officer
or secretary of such caucus or primary.
3. a. Party designations for elective village offices shall be made on
a designating petition containing the signatures in ink of residents of
the village who are registered to vote with the appropriate county board
of elections at the time of signing and who are enrolled in such
political party. The sheets of such a petition shall be numbered. Such
petition must set forth in each instance the correct date of signing,
the name of the signer, and his or her present address, and may set
forth a committee to fill vacancies consisting of at least three
qualified voters of the village enrolled in such party and their
residence within the village. A signer need not himself or herself fill
in the date or residence. Each sheet of such petition must be in
substantially the following form and shall contain all the information
required therein:
PARTY DESIGNATING PETITION
I, the undersigned do hereby state that I am a registered voter of the
Village of ...... and a duly enrolled voter of the ........ party and
entitled to vote at the next primary election of such party, that my
place of residence is truly stated opposite my signature hereto, and I
hereby designate the following named person (or persons) as a candidate
(or candidates) for nomination of such party for the public office (or
public offices) to be voted for at the primary election to be held on
the ...... day of ........... 20.... as hereinafter specified.
Public Office include district
number, if
Name of Candidate applicable) Term Residence
.................... ................. ....... ...............
.................... ................. ....... ...............
I do hereby appoint (insert names and addresses of at least three
persons, all of whom shall be enrolled voters of said party) as a
committee to fill vacancies in accordance with the provisions of the
election law.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand, the day and year
placed opposite my signature.
Date Name Residence
............. ............. ...............
............. ............. ...............
STATEMENT OF WITNESS
I ............... (name of witness) state: I am a duly qualified voter
of the State of New York; and an enrolled voter of the ......... party.
I now reside at ..............(residence address). Each of the persons
whose names are subscribed to this petition sheet
containing ......... signatures, subscribed his or her name in my
presence.
I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as
the equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false
statement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly
sworn.
b. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the number of
signatures required on a designating petition shall be five percent of
the number of enrolled voters of the party residing in the village. For
the purpose of determining the number of enrolled voters of a party
residing in the village, the clerk shall be furnished with an official
certified list of all such enrolled party voters residing in the village
by the county board of elections of the county in which all or part of
the village is located. Such list shall be filed in the village clerk's
office and shall be available upon request for inspection by any
interested person.
4. Independent nominations for elective village offices shall be made
by a petition containing the signatures in ink of residents of the
village who are registered with the appropriate county board of
elections at the time of signing or who are residents of the village who
were on the list of registered voters for the last village election in
such village. The sheets of such a petition shall be numbered. Such
petition must set forth in each instance the correct date of signing,
the name of the signer and his or her present address, and may set forth
a committee to fill vacancies consisting of at least three persons
qualified to vote in the village election and their residence within the
village. A signer need not himself or herself fill in the date or
residence. Each sheet of such petition must be in substantially the
following form and shall contain all the information required therein
except as may otherwise be permitted by law.
VILLAGE INDEPENDENT NOMINATING PETITION
I, the undersigned, do hereby state that I am a registered voter of
the Village of .........., that my present place of residence is truly
stated opposite my signature, and I do hereby nominate the following
named person (or persons) as a candidate (or as candidates) for election
to public office (or public offices) to be voted for at the election to
be held on the ..... day of ........, 20....., and that I select the
name .............. (fill in name) as the name of the independent body
making the nomination (or nominations) and ..... (fill in emblem) as the
emblem of such body.
Public Office include district
number, if
Name of Candidate applicable) Term Residence
.................... ................. ........ .................
.................... ................. ........ .................
I do hereby appoint _ _ _ _
Name Residence
............................. .................................
............................. .................................
as a committee to fill vacancies in accordance with the provisions of
the election law.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have signed this petition on the day and year
stated before my signature.
Date Signature Residence
............. ................. ...............
............. ................. ...............
STATEMENT OF WITNESS
I, ............... state that I am a duly qualified voter of the State
of New York. I now reside at .......... (residence address). Each of the
voters whose names are subscribed to this petition sheet,
containing ........ (fill in number) signatures, subscribed his or her
name in my presence.
I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as
the equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false
statement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly
sworn.
Date .................... ...........................
Signature of Witness
5. The name selected for the independent body making the nomination
shall be in the English language and shall not include the name or part
of the name, or an abbreviation of the name or of part of the name, of a
then existing party. The name and emblem shown upon such petition shall
conform to the requirements of this chapter, relating to party names and
party emblems. If such a petition shall not show an emblem, or the
petition shall fail to select a name for such independent body, the
village clerk shall select an emblem or name, or both to distinguish the
candidates nominated thereby.
6. An independent nominating petition for a village office must be
signed by at least one hundred voters in villages containing a
population of five thousand or more; by at least seventy-five voters in
villages containing a population of three thousand and less than five
thousand; and by at least fifty voters in villages containing a
population of one thousand and less than three thousand; and in villages
containing a population of less than one thousand by voters numbering at
least five per centum of the number of voters at the last regular
village election. For the purposes of this section, the population of a
village shall be determined by the last federal decennial or local
special population census federally supervised pursuant to section
twenty of the general municipal law.
7. a. A certificate of party nomination for an office to be filled at
the time of a general or special village election for offices shall be
filed not earlier than fifty-four days nor later than forty-seven days
preceding the election.
b. A certificate of acceptance or declination of a party nomination
for an office to be filled at the time of a general or special village
election shall be filed not later than forty-four days prior to such
election.
c. A certificate to fill a vacancy caused by declination of a party
nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general or
special village election shall be filed not later than forty-one days
prior to such election.
d. Party designating petitions for a village primary election shall be
filed in the office of the village clerk not earlier than twenty-two
days nor later than fifteen days prior to the primary election. Upon
such a filing, the village clerk shall immediately notify the village
election chairman of such party and the person or persons designated in
such petition of the fact of such filing and that such petition may be
inspected in his office. (e) A written declination of a party designation must be filed in the
office of the village clerk within three days of the date of the filing
of the designating petition. Upon the filing of such declination, the
village clerk shall, within one day notify the committee to fill
vacancies named in the petition. A certificate to fill the vacancy
caused by a declination or any other reason must be filed with the
village clerk within three days after the date of the notice to the
committee to fill vacancies and shall have appended thereto the written
consent of the person or persons designated.
8. a. An independent nominating petition for an office to be filled at
the time of a general or special village election shall be filed not
earlier than forty-two days nor later than thirty-five days preceding
the election.
b. A certificate of acceptance or declination of an independent
nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general or
special village election shall be filed not later than three days after
the last day to file the petition which made such independent
nomination.
c. A certificate to fill a vacancy caused by a declination of an
independent nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a
general or special village election for offices shall be filed not later
than three days after the last day to file the certificate of
declination, and shall have appended thereto the written consent of the
person or persons nominated.
9. Any village resident who is a registered voter of the village and,
in the case of a designating petition, an enrolled member of the party
filing the petition, may sign an independent nominating petition or a
designating petition providing that: (a) such signature was not made
more than six weeks prior to the last day to file such petition; (b) he
has not signed more than one petition designating or nominating a
candidate for mayor or village justice. If he has signed more than one
such petition, only the earliest signature for each such office shall be
valid; (c) he has not signed more than one petition designating or
nominating a candidate for each vacancy which exists for the office of
village trustee or village justice if the village has provided for two
such justices. If he has signed more than one such petition for each
such vacancy, only the earlier signatures shall be valid; or (d) he does
not vote at a primary election or party caucus where a candidate was
nominated for the same office or each such vacancy.
10. A written objection to an independent nominating petition,
designating petition or certificate of nomination shall be filed in the
office of the village clerk no later than one day following the last
date upon which such petition or certificate may be filed or within one
day after such petition or certificate is received by the village clerk,
if such petition or certificate is mailed as provided by law, whichever
is later. Written specifications of the grounds of the objections shall
be filed with the village clerk within two days after the filing of the
written objection. A failure to file such written specifications shall
render the original objection null and void. Upon receipt of such
written specification, the village clerk shall forthwith notify each
candidate named in the petition or certificate and shall notify the
county board of elections of the county in which the village is located.
For purposes of this section, a village shall be deemed to be located
within a county if more than fifty percent of the population of the
village as shown by the last federal decennial or special census resides
in that portion of the village located in that county. Upon receipt of
the written specifications as herein required, the county board of
elections shall immediately take all steps necessary and consistent with
this chapter to render a determination on the questions raised in such
objections and specifications. When a determination has been made by the
county board of elections that the petition is sufficient or
insufficient, it shall immediately notify the village clerk and each
candidate named in the petition or certificate, and, if such
determination was made on objection, the objector.
