THE 2014 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMITTEE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO FILL VACANCIES IN THE 2016 COUNTY COMMITTEE (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the Executive Committee of the Suffolk County Committee of the Conservative Party did not have the authority to fill vacancies in the county committee. The 2014 Executive Committee could not fill vacancies in the 2016 County Committee:
Election Law § 6-148 does not confer upon the Executive Committee of the Suffolk County Committee of the Conservative Party of New York State the authority to fill vacancies in the county committee. Rather, that statute relates to filling vacancies in designations and nominations of candidates, not members of a political party’s county committee. The filling of vacancies in a political party’s county committee is governed by Election Law § 2-118, which provides, in pertinent part, that, in the case of a failure to elect a member of the committee, the vacancy created thereby shall be filled by the remaining members of the committee. Therefore, only the 2016 County Committee had the authority to fill the subject vacancies.
With the election of the 2016 County Committee in the primary election, the county committee that was elected in 2014 had no further official authority, and no rule of that county committee could extend the authority of its executive committee to continue to exercise functions in substantial matters after the members of the 2016 County Committee had been elected … . The filling of vacancies for the 2016 County Committee was a “substantial matter,” and therefore the actions of the 2014 Executive Committee in filling vacancies in the 2016 County Committee were improper … . Matter of Auerbach v Suffolk County Comm. of the Conservative Party of N.Y. State, 2018 NY Slip Op 01463, Second Dept 3-7-18
ELECTION LAW (THE 2014 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMITTEE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO FILL VACANCIES IN THE 2016 COUNTY COMMITTEE (SECOND DEPT))/CONSERVATIVE PARTY (ELECTION LAW, THE 2014 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMITTEE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO FILL VACANCIES IN THE 2016 COUNTY COMMITTEE (SECOND DEPT))