§ 137. Designation and nomination of candidates. L. 1922, ch. 588. 3. If an enrolled voter shall sign any petition or petitions designating a greater number of candidates for public office or party position than the number of persons to be elected thereto his signatures, if they bear the same. date, shall not be counted upon any petition, and if they bear different dates shall be counted in the order of their priority of date, for only so many designees as there are persons to be elected. 4. A signature made earlier than eleven weeks before the primary election shall not be counted. Source.-Former Election Law (L. 1909, ch. 22), various provisions of old § 48, simplified. A failure to file a designating petition containing the names of a sufficient number of qualified electors as required by this section of the Election Law, invalidates the same, renders it null and void and, therefore, inoperative, and the can- . didate therein named is not regularly and duly designated. The Election Law does not invest the courts with power to amend a petition already filed, and a contention that by allowing the petitioner to draw for a position on the official primary ticket the county clerk waives any defect in the designating petition cannot be sustained. Matter of Booth (1922), 119 Misc. 243, 196 N. Y. Supp. 88. Section cited.-Matter of Burr v. Voorhis (1920), 229 N. Y. 382, 128 N. E. 220, affg. 192 App. Div. 909, 182 N. Y. Supp. 917. § 137. Independent nominations.-1. Independent nominations for public office may be made by a petition, which petition shall be substantially in the following form: I, the undersigned, do hereby state that I am a duly qualified voter of the political unit for which a nomination for public office is hereby made, that my place of residence is truly stated opposite my signature hereto and that I intend to support at the ensuing election, and I do hereby nominate the following named person (or persons) as a candidate (or as candidates) for nomination for public office (or public offices) to be voted for at the election to be held on the ........ day of ... 19., and that I select the name (fill in not more than five words) as the name of the independent body making the nomination (or nominations) and (fill in emblem), as the emblem of such body. Name of candidate Public office Place of residence Place of business I do hereby appoint (here insert the name and addresses of at least three persons, all of whom shall be voters) 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. 2. The petition shall be verified by the signers, or authenticated by witnesses, in the manner provided in section one hundred and thirty-five, in respect of a designating petition. 3. The emblem shown upon such petition shall conform to the requirements of section twenty, relating to a party emblem. If such a petition shall not show an emblem, the officer or board in whose office the petition is filed shall select an emblem to distinguish the candidates nominated thereby, except that if such petition be for the nomination of a candidate or candidates to be voted for by the voters of the entire state, the secretary of state shall select an emblem to distinguish the candidates of the independent body named in the petition, throughout the state. 4. An independent nominating petition for candidates to be voted for by all the voters of the state must be signed by at least twelve thousand voters, of whom at least fifty shall reside in each county of the state, the counties of Fulton and Hamilton to be considered as one county. Such a petition for a village office must be signed by voters numbering five per centum of the number of voters at the last regular village election. Such a petition for the nomination of candidates for an office to be filled by the voters of any other political unit must be signed by voters numbering five per centum of the total number of votes cast for governor at the last gubernatorial election in such unit; but not more than three thousand signatures shall be required upon any such petition for any office to be filled in any political subdivision of the state, and not more than one thousand five hundred signatures upon any such petition for any office to be filled in any county or portion thereof. The name of a person signing such a petition for an election for which voters are required to be registered shall not be counted unless such person shall, on one of the days of registration, in such year, be registered as a qualified voter. the name of a person who has signed such a petition appear upon another petition nominating the same or a different person for the same office, it shall not be counted on either petition. Source. Former Election Law (L. 1909, ch. 22), §§ 122, 123, subd. 6, unchanged in substance. Construction, sufficiency of certificate.-While the statute which provides for independent nominations should be liberally construed its substance must be preserved and enforced. Though a certificate of independent nomination, as filed, named three persons as a committee to fill vacancies, it did not state that they were §§ 138, 139. Designation and nomination of candidates. L. 1922, ch. 588. qualified electors of the village and did not give their address. Nor did the certificate contain a material part of the statute, viz.: "That I intend to support at the ensuing election and I do hereby nominate the following named person as a candidate for nomination for public office." Held, that said certificate was insufficient and an order will be granted directing the clerk of the village to omit from the official ballot the name of the candidate for collector of the village mentioned in said certificate. Matter of Christiana (1923), 120 Misc. 423, 198 N. Y. Supp. 582. Section cited.-Matter of Burr v. Voorhis (1920), 229 N. Y. 382, 128 N. E. 220, affg. 192 App. Div. 909, 182 N. Y. Supp. 917. § 138. Declination of designation or nomination.-A person designated as a candidate for nomination or for party position, or nominated for an office otherwise than at a primary election, may, in a certificate signed and acknowledged by him, and filed as provided in this article, decline the designation or nomination, or, if nominated by more than one party or independent body, may decline the nomination as a candidate of a specified party or independent body. The officer or board to whom or which such notification is given forthwith shall inform by mail or otherwise the committee authorized to fill the vacancy, that the designation or nomination has been declined, and if such declination be filed with the secretary of state, such officer also shall give immediate notice by mail or otherwise that such designation or nomination has been declined, to the several boards of elections which prepare the official ballots for election districts affected by such declination. When a person who was not designated for nomination at a primary election receives a nomination for public office at such primary election the officer or board with whom or which a designating petition for such an office is required to be filed forthwith shall notify, by mail, such person of his nomination. A person nominated as aforesaid, without designation, at a primary election, may decline such nomination not later than the fifth Tuesday preceding the general election for which he was nominated, and the vacancy may be filled not later than the fourth Tuesday preceding such election. A person whose name is printed on the primary ballot of a party, as a candidate for nomination by it to public office, and who is nominated therefor at the primary election, may not decline such nomination. Source.-Former Election Law (L. 1909, ch. 22), §§ 50, 133. § 139. Filling vacancies in designations and nominations.-A vacancy in a designation or nomination, caused by declination, where a declination is permitted by this article, or by the death or disqualification of the candidate, or by a tie vote at a fall primary or at an unofficial primary held for the nomination of candidates for city offices to be filled at a time other than that of the general election, may be filled by the making and filing of a certificate, setting forth the fact and cause of the vacancy, the name of the original candidate, if any, and the name, address and occupation of the candidate newly designated or nominated. L. 1922, ch. 588. Designation and nomination of candidates. § 140. A vacancy in a designation or independent nomination, or in a party nomination made otherwise than at a fall primary, may be filled by a majority of the committee to fill vacancies shown upon the face of the petition or certificate of the designation or nomination in which the vacancy occurs, or, in the case of a tie vote at an unofficial primary held for the party nomination of candidates for city offices to be filled at a time other than that of the general election, by a majority of such committee as the rules of the county committee shall provide. A vacancy in a nomination made at a fall primary, or by a tie vote thereat, may be filled by a majority of a quorum of the members of the county committee or committees last elected in the political subdivision in which such vacancy occurs, or by a majority of such other committee as the rules of the party may provide. If the vacancy be filled by a committee named in a petititon or certificate of nomination or designation, the new certificate shall be signed by a majority of such committee; if filled by any other committee, it shall be signed by the presiding officer and secretary of the committee. Appended to the certificate shall be the affidavit of the persons signing the certificate that they were a majority of such committee, or such officers, as the case may be, and that the statements in such certificate are true. If a person be designated to fill a vacancy in a designation caused by a declination thereof, the certificate designating such person shall have appended thereto his written consent to be so designated, duly acknowledged. When a certificate of a new designation or nomination shall be filed with the secretary of state, he shall forthwith certify to the proper board of elections the name of the person designated or nominated by such certificate and such other facts as are required to be stated therein. Source. Former Election Law (L. 1909, ch. 22), §§ 90, 135. § 140. Times for filing petitions and certificates and for holding conventions.-1. A designating petition shall be filed not earlier than the fifth Tuesday and not later than the fourth Tuesday preceding the primary election. 2. A declination of a designation shall be filed not later than the third day after the fourth Tuesday preceding the primary election. 3. A certificate to fill a vacancy in a designation caused by declination shall be filed not later than the third Tuesday preceding the primary election. 4. A state convention for nominating candidates for public office or a judicial district convention shall be held not earlier than the day following the sixth Tuesday preceding the general election. 5. A certificate of party nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general election shall be filed not later than the fifth Tuesday preceding such election, and for an office to be filled at an election at a time other § 141. Designation and nomination of candidates. L. 1922, ch. 588. than that of a general election shall be filed not later than twenty-one days preceding such election. 6. A certificate of declination of a party nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general election shall be filed not later than the third day after the fifth Tuesday preceding such election, and for an office to be filled at an election at a time other than that of a general election shall be filed not later than eighteen days preceding such election. 7. A certificaate to fill a vacancy caused by declination of a party nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general election shall be filed not later than the fourth Tuesday preceding such election, and for an office to be filled at an election at a time other than that of a general election shall be filed not later than fourteen days preceding such election. 8. A petition for an independent nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general election shall be filed not earlier than the fifth Tuesday and not later than the fourth Tuesday preceding such election, and for an office to be filled at an election at a time other than that of a general election shall be filed not later than fourteen days preceding such election. 9. A certificate of declination of an independent nomination for an office to be filled at the time of a general election shall be filed not later than the third day after the fourth Tuesday preceding such election, and for an office to be filled at an election at a time other than that of a general election shall be filed not later than eleven days preceding such election. 10. A certificate to fill a vacancy caused by declination of an independent nomination for an office to be filled at a time other than that of a general election shall be filed not later than the sixth day after the fourth Tuesday preceding such election, and for an office to be filled at an election at a time other than that of a general election shall be filed not later than eight days preceding such election. If a vacancy described in subdivision seven of section one hundred and thirty-one occur too late to comply with the provisions of this section, the certificates of nomination, declination and to fill a vacancy in such nomination shall be filed as soon as practicable. Source. Former Election Law (L. 1909, ch. 22), from §§ 49, 50, 112, 121, 128, 133, 136. § 141. Places for filing petitions and certificates; record; notices to candidates. The places for filing the petitions and certificates specified in this article shall be respectively as follows: for an office or position to be voted for wholly within the city of New York in the office of the board of elections of that city; elsewhere, for an office or position to be voted for in a district greater than a county, in the office of the secretary of state; for the office of member of assembly for Fulton and Hamilton |