The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined respondent candidate’s designating petition should not have been invalidated on the ground that the she did not live at the address provided on the petition:
The record reflects that respondent was actively engaged in renovating the property at the address provided on the designating petitions, that respondent signed a temporary lease for a property also located within the relevant voting district, and that respondent intended on permanently residing at the property listed on the designating petitions once renovations were complete. Indeed, Supreme Court expressly noted that it did not “question . . . the integrity of [respondent’s] testimony in saying that [it was] her intention to live [at the address].” Notwithstanding the fact that the address listed on the designation petitions was not respondent’s current residence and thus did not comply with Election Law § 6-132, “[w]here, as here, there is no proof of any intention on the part of the candidate or of those who have solicited signatures on his [or her] behalf to mislead or confuse, and no evidence that the inaccuracy did or would lead or tend to lead to misidentification or confusion on the part of those invited to sign the petition or seeking to verify his [or her] qualification,” the petition should not be invalidated … . Matter of McNiel v Martin, 2019 NY Slip Op 04305, Fourth Dept 5-30-19