FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE A CERTIFICATE OF ACCEPTANCE OF A DESIGNATION REQUIRED INVALIDATION OF THE DESIGNATING PETITION, NOTWITHSTANDING A REASONABLE EXPLANATION OF THE ONE-DAY-LATE MAILING DUE TO COVID-19 (THIRD DEPT).

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The Third Department determined the COVID-19 crisis did not excuse the late filing of a certificate of acceptance of a designation. The designating petition was properly invalidated:

… [P]etitioner was required to file her certificate of acceptance of designation no later than March 24, 2020 (see Election Law § 6-158 [2]). Although petitioner completed the acceptance form on March 24, 2020, the record confirms, and petitioner does not dispute, that it was mailed on March 25, 2020. As the acceptance was not “postmarked prior to midnight of the last day of filing,” her acceptance was untimely (Election Law § 1-106 [1]). Contrary to petitioner’s contention and the dissent’s characterization, the failure to abide by the prescribed timelines set forth in the Election Law for the filing of a certificate of acceptance is not a technical violation, but, by the plain statutory language, “a fatal defect” (Election Law § 1-106 [2] …). …

Citing to the unprecedented circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, petitioner also seeks equitable relief to have her acceptance deemed timely filed. We are sympathetic to the difficult situation that petitioner was placed in due to the pandemic and the shortened political calendar but, even assuming that she has articulated a reasonable explanation for her untimely filing of the certificate of acceptance, the equitable remedy that she seeks is unavailable. Matter of Hawatmeh v New York State Bd. of Elections, 2020 NY Slip Op 02907, Third Dept 5-15-20