Address Errors Rendered Designating Petition Invalid—Petitioner Not Entitled to “Opportunity to Ballot”

The Third Department determined that errors in indicating the correct address of signatories invalidated the designating petition, Because such errors are not deemed merely “technical” errors under the Election Law, the petitioner’s request for an “opportunity to ballot” was properly denied:

Pursuant to Election Law § 6-130, “[t]he sheets of a designating petition must set forth in every instance the name of the signer, his or her residence address, town or city (except in the city of New York, the county), and the date when the signature is affixed.” Strict compliance with Election Law § 6-130 is mandated, as its requirements constitute “a matter of substance and not of form”… . * * *

… [T]he discretional remedy of an opportunity to ballot should be granted “only where the defects which require invalidation of a designating petition are technical in nature and do not call into serious question the existence of adequate support among eligible voters” … . Here, we find that Supreme Court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the opportunity to ballot remedy is not appropriate in light of the fact that the defects at issue have been held to be substantive and not technical in nature … . Matter of Canary v New York State Bd. of Elections, 2015 NY Slip Op 06638, 3rd Dept 8-20-15