Petition Challenges. Presented by: Susan Bahren & David Green Orange County

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1 Petition Challenges Presented by: Susan Bahren & David Green Orange County

2 General Objections Filed General Objections filed within 3 days of filing petition

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4 Rules & Regulations 1996 Challenge by an objector denied Went to Court Judge ruled that we needed Rules & Regulations for filing Challenges Give the challenger what their requirements are

5 April 1997 Amended July 2002 (Continued 2017) GENERAL RULES FOR OBJECTING TO PETITIONS (DESIGNATING AND NOMINATING) FILED WITH THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS Section of the New York State Election Law presumes all petitions to be valid if they are in proper form and appear to bear the requisite number of signatures, authenticated in a manner prescribed by said law. Written objections (forms available at Board of Elections) to designating or nominating petitions may be filed by any voter registered to vote for the petition s subject or candidate or any enrolled voter of the applicable party in cases of party position petitions. An objector must be qualified to object to said petition. General written objections must be notarized and filed within three (3) days after filing of the petition involved. Specifications of the grounds of objections must be filed within six (6) days from the date of postmark of the objection if mailed, or six (6) days from the filing date if delivered to the Board of Elections in person only the objector may file specifications. Specifications do not need to be notarized, but must be signed and dated by the objector. The Board will consider no Specifications of Objections to any petition unless the objector filing the specifications personally delivers or mails by registered or certified mail a duplicate copy of the specifications to each candidate for public office named on the petition who objected to. In the case of a petition containing candidates for a party position, service of the specifications shall be made on either the named candidates or the first person named on the petition s committee to fill vacancies. Service shall be made on or before the date of filing of any specifications with the Board. Proof of Service shall accompany the specifications or be received by the end of two business days following the filing of specifications, whichever is later. Objections must clearly identify the volume, sheet and line of the objection subject. In cases of duplicate signatures, the volume, sheet and line number must locate both signatures and identify them. The total number of signatures objected to shall be set forth and all objections relating to a single signature line should be grouped together. Symbols and/or abbreviations may be used to set forth an objection, provided that a sheet explaining the meaning of any such symbol and/or abbreviation is attached to the specifications. Allegations of a signer s lack of registration should clearly state that the signer is not timely registered from the address on the questioned petition. When an objector files an objection that represents a factual issue that cannot be determined from the documents on file with the Board, the specifications must set forth the factual allegations with particulars. The objector shall submit with the specifications, copies of any documents or affidavits that are required in order for the Board to rule on the issue. This ministerial Board may not legally judge allegations of fraud or forgery. All documented allegations of this nature must be forwarded to the Orange County District Attorney s Office by the Board of Elections. NOTE: The above are general instructions for objections. Objectors should refer to the New York State Election Law Sections: and for further clarification.

6 Notify Objector with copy to petitioner

7 Filing of Specifications Specifications of objections: Filed/postmarked within 6 days after General Objections filed Filed by same person who filed General Objections Following State Rules & Regs We require copy of a notice showing Petitioner was sent copy of Specifications Board makes copy for worksheet

8 Chart of Objections (Thanks to Westchester)

9 Chart of Objections Completed by Staff

10 Copy of Petition with annotations

11 Chart Totals by Page

12 Decision Process NYS Board of Elections Election Law Update The Board of Elections is a purely ministerial board and they had no power to deal with objections involving matters not appearing on the face of the papers Objections which allege fraud or forgery should not be ruled on by the board of elections and can only be ruled on by a court of competent jurisdiction.

13 Decision letter Letter with Statistics Showing Results of objections

14 Decision Letter with law research

15 Objection report on website

16 Objections to Petitions We don t do hearings We have a written policy and procedure on objections We thank Westchester County for sharing their graph with us