Petition Signature Requirements Overview
Petition signature requirements are a necessary burden of entry for candidates seeking a position in the New York State electoral and legislative process. The petition signature requirement has been established by the New York State Election Law for many years and "consist of signatures of electors residing in the district constituting the electoral division from which the candidate is to be nominated or elected, and, in the case of a candidate for representative in congress, also from the congressional district." The Office of Election Division has also indicated that the signature must be that of a duly qualified registered voter who resides within or without the congressional district from which the candidate is seeking to be elected. See Section 133, Para 2 of the New York State Election Law.
The signature must also be in the form suggested by Section 119 of the New York State Election Law and attached to the authorization of the signer of the petition approving the use of such signature for a candidate for different office, if applicable.
As noted in the New York Law Journal on December 18, 2015, "[a] nomination petition must be signed by a certain number of voters from the election district the candidate seeks to represent. Candidates are required to submit their nominating petitions to the appropriate board of elections, which then verifies the signatures in accordance with certain statutory guidelines."
This is a two-step process whereby a potential candidate must first gathers the requisite number of signatures into a petition, and then corresponds with the Board of Elections Bureau, which is responsible for overseeing the entire petitioning process.
As one should remember, a candidate is required to obtain signatures from voters in the district in which he or she resides. The Executive Office holds there can be a NYS Voter that lives in Albany County and may only be eligible to vote in a primary election. However, the potential NYS candidate may reside in Nassau County, and seeks to run a race in Long Island. This means their signature will still be valid if it is used for that race . So long as the person is a valid registered elector, their signature can be counted.
One of the most common issues arises when someone signs a petition, but they do not live in the right district. Instead, they may reside in that particular election district, but not in the district in which the candidate has chosen to run.
For instance, an Albany County Voter who lives in the 20th Congressional Election District (which covers most of Albany County) is a valid petition signer for a candidate who lives in that election district but runs in the 21st Congressional Election District, covering parts of neighboring Albany County, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties. The same will hold true for a person from the City of Albany running a race in Orange and Dutchess Counties who lives in Albany and works in New York.
However, that same Albany County Voter cannot sign a petition for a candidate running for state senate, assembly or county legislator from a district that does not include his or her residence.
It is also critical that a valid signature be from a resident of the state as well. Any signature on a New York State petition must be from a resident of the State. If it is not, even though they may be eligible to vote in a state election, their signature is invalid for purposes of signing a New York State petition.
There are counterpart cases involving New York City, and the City’s Election Laws as they relate to candidate selection, petition signatures and campaigns. For example, where a candidate provides the names and addresses of a candidate to the Board of Elections, and those names are not factual and/or accurate in its names, that candidate’s petition may be disqualified. The similar holding for New York State, is their holding of "inflammatory campaign literature, designed to do nothing to further a rational debate." This could lead to a disqualification of a petition under the New York State Election Code. Regardless of New York State or New York City, campaign firms always admonish their candidates regarding these campaign requirements.
Types of Petitions and What Signatures They Require
New York State voters encounter various types of petitions. Most are required for a candidate to appear on a ballot and must state the name of a candidate running for a specific office in a specific area. Those signatures are reviewed by the Board of Elections, and a certain number must be valid for the ballot line to be secured. The number required is unique to the electoral district, which can further complicate the issue. Determining the required amount of signatures for any given race can get complicated, and as a result, petitions must otherwise follow strict formatting rules. Other types of petitions appear on a ballot and give voters a chance to weigh in on state and local issues, both social and political. These are called ballot initiatives. The signature requirements for ballot initiatives differ from electoral candidates’ petition requirements.
How to Calculate the Amount of Needed Signatures
There is a formula for calculating the number of signatures you must obtain in order to have a viable and tolerable petition, one where some will naturally be rejected due to mistakes or ineligibility (individuals moving away since signing, etc). The New York State Election Board has outlined this formula in its Rules and Regulations. To paraphrase: you take 5% of the electorate of the specific office that you hope to run for, and add more signatures to that figure.
The amount by which you add signatures to the 5% number is calculated by taking the number of signatures that were needed for a candidate for the same office at the last election, and dividing that number by the number of petitions that candidate submitted. Using those math skills that you learned back when, you then multiply that quotient by 3, and add that to the 5%. For example, let’s say 100 signatures were needed last election for a state Assembly candidate, and the candidate filed 4 petitions that election. The first – and most important – thing you would do is subtract 4 from the 100. This leaves you with 96. Then you would divide that by 4, to get 24. Now you multiply that by 3 (one for the candidate, and two compensating for mistakes). The result is 72. Finally, you hoist the electron with that amount, and add it to the 5%. Thus, you would need to submit 5% + 72 = 77 signatures for your petition to be considered viable. This means you would have to actually gather 77 signatures, and submit them; although, the Board of Elections would only actually "count" 49 of those.
It’s important to note that the 5% number is not the same for every office. For example, for a mayor of a city of less than 250,000, the number is 2%. For city council – anywhere from 7,500 to 15,000 is the number, depending on the municipality. Candidates for federal office must also file deployment statements with the Federal Election Commission, as well as the State Election Board. That number is calculated as 2% of the entire electorate of their district.
It should also be noted that all this math presumes that the candidate is joining a party, and is running in a primary election. Furthermore, council candidates do not need to file deployment statements with the FEC.
Petition Signature Collection Process
While the form requirements for a New York State petition are relatively minimal, the process for presenting signatures has some key legal considerations. Every petition that is filed with a local Board of Elections must include a covered list signed by five witnesses. Election Law § 6-136(1)(a). The witnesses must come from the same county as the candidate or from an adjacent county. Election Law § 6-136(1)(b). The purpose of the witness statement is to effectively authenticate the signatures submitted on the petition. After collecting the signatures, that person who collected the signatures may freely sign the witness statement. A candidate petition is invalid if the witness statement is not completed. Election Law §§ 6-132(1-a) and 6-136(1)(b). Regardless of who collected the signatures, a Declaration of Witness is not effective in fulfilling the covered list requirement. Hunter v. Board of Elections in Westchester Cty., 96 AD2d 622 (2d Dep’t 1983); Election Law § 6-136(5)(b). The canvass for petitioning signatures can begin at any time, and generally continues until the filing deadline, which is set by statute. However, the tenth day before the filing date marks the onset of an increasingly intense enforcement effort by the New York State Board of Elections and local boards of elections to insure that candidates are complying with the law. In the interim, those who collect signatures must be aware not to communicate within 100 feet of each voting site. Election Law § 17-130. Best practice dictates that signers should be presented with the petition, and once they have signed it, should be given a business-sized card referencing the petition they registered to sign. The card should contain the statement "I’m supporting [INSERT YOUR NAME HERE}, can that be verified by going to [INSERT URL HERE]." Hand the signers extra cards to distribute to any of their friends and family who were unable to sign their name to your petition.
Petition Signature Problems and Mistakes
Navigating the signature rules can be difficult, and there are many challenges and pitfalls. Experienced petitioners know that they need to pay close attention to detail to avoid these common mistakes:
Inaccurate Listings: The most frequent reason signatures are disqualified is because they’re missing essential information. Every signature must include the name, home address, county, and date of signing. If any of this information is left out, the Board of Elections will reject that signature. Also, it may be possible to put incorrect information on the petition.
Eligible Signatories: Even if you have everything correct on your petition, that doesn’t really matter if the wrong voters sign it. Some common reasons that signatures get rejected are:
- voters who do not reside at the address they list;
- voters who don’t have a registered party affiliation (if the petition is for a party primary);
- voters who are not registered at all;
- voters who aren’t eligible to vote (usually because of age);
- voters whose names don’t match what is listed in the Board of Elections database;
So remember to double-check your voter lists before you have them sign.
Circulator Errors: Only registered voters can act as petition circulators , and they must also reside in the county where they’re collecting signatures. If the circulator is not registered, or if they are registered in a different county, then they can’t collect signatures on that petition.
Approval Reversals: The Board of Elections has to give a fee waiver for a petition with fewer than 500 signatures. But if any approved signatures are rescinded from the petition, then the board can demand payment of the fee.
Filing Time Limits: Lastly, signature collectors should keep an eye on the calendar. There’s a deadline for every election and every filing, including both the petition itself and the list of signers. Don’t forget to check when the next Board of Elections meeting is, too.
Verification and Filing of Petition Signatures
Petition signers must be validated by the Board of Elections or the Secretary of State, which includes a search of the Board’s statewide voter registration database to review the signatures. Because we rely on the Board’s signature verification system as part of the submission process, the Board must be provided with the names, addresses, and birth dates of all petition signers. All inscriptions must be completed in ink by the petition signer. If a petition is modified, the modification must be approved by the appropriate Board of Elections or Secretary of State along with a certification stating the number and kind of pages being filed as well as identifying the petition number. All election-related petitions must be filed with the appropriate Board of Elections offices. Any person authorized to act as a witness may file a petition. All signatures must be considered valid; invalid signatures are noted and removed from the final result. If the number of signatures submitted is 1.5 times the total required for the office, then the petition is considered validated. In some cases, the petition is not validated because not enough signatures were deemed valid. Petition validations are then placed on the calendar for consideration. Usually, a hearing is also calendared. Hearing notices and all related documents are mailed to all petition circulators or persons authorized by the petitioners to serve as their representatives at the hearing. Subsequently, the Board of Elections or Secretary of State issues an order which is filed with the New York State Department of State.
Case Examples and Historical Data
To illustrate the importance of signature requirements, the 1995 "Power to the People" initiative in New York is a perfect exemplar. The initiative put forth by the "Greens/Green Party" was to amend Article II of the NY State Constitution, Section 4.3 to change the voting age to 16. Each of the 32 lines required 52 signatures. Unfortunately this popular amendment fizzled out and has not been seen since. As an interesting historical bit, the postcard campaign should be noted – 5,000 postcards were sent into Gannett News Service and they reported back that 199 of these postcards were for the change. Curious, Gannett ran an article in the paper with a survey and the response was overwhelmingly against it. As it turns out, many of these signatures were not valid under the signature requirements of NY State Petition law and registration requirements. On the other hand, the successful "Five Percent of the Ballots Cast in the Last Presidential Election" requirement passed in haste. It was passed in December 1949 and effective on January 1, 1950. This requirement for minor party candidates has since been continually challenged under the NY Election Law and Election Law cases such as Libertarian Party of New York v . New York County Board of Elections. This New York court case noted the number of petitions that the election law allowed, but that only the "Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party" utilized the five percent requirement (and the Liberal Party came in first place generally). The "Independent" parties, however, had to seek authorization for their party by petition. This factor has allowed many more ballot positions from Independent parties over the years. In 1982 a case emerged that saw an exception to the straight party ticket requirement put forth by the Democrat Committee v. O’Leary. The Fifth Department held, while the state statute applied "to all elections for the State Legislature and domestic violence displaying a mandate and writing requirement, it was not necessary with respect to local elections." Thus, the case therefore nullified the writ of prohibition and annulled the State Board of Elections’ order to prohibit the party ‘sticker’ on any local election, demonstrating another wrinkle in this complex process that has been ongoing in NY for nearly 100 years.