Election — Judicial Proceedings — Proceedings as to the casting and canvass of ballots

25 Jul 2016

Current through 2016 New York Laws, Chapters 1 to 237

1. The casting or canvassing or refusal to cast challenged ballots, blank ballots, void or canvass absentee, military, special federal, federal write-in or emergency ballots and ballots voted in affidavit envelopes by persons whose registration poll records were not in the ledger or whose names were not on the computer generated registration list on the day of election or voters in inactive status, voters who moved to a new address in the city or county or after they registered or voters who claimed to be enrolled in a party other than that shown on their registration poll record or on the computer generated registration list and the original applications for a military, special federal, federal write-in, emergency or absentee voter's ballot may be contested in a proceeding instituted in the supreme or county court, by any candidate or the chairman of any party committee, and by any voter with respect to the refusal to cast such voter's ballot, against the board of canvassers of the returns from such district, if any, and otherwise against the board of inspectors of election of such district. If the court determines that the person who cast such ballot was entitled to vote at such election, it shall order such ballot to be cast and canvassed if the court finds that ministerial error by the board of elections or any of its employees caused such ballot envelope not to be valid on its face.
2. The canvass of returns by the state, or county, city, town or village board of canvassers may be contested, in a proceeding instituted in the supreme court by any voter, except a proceeding on account of the failure of the state board of canvassers to act upon new returns of a board of canvassers of any county made pursuant to the order of a court or justice, which may be instituted only by a candidate aggrieved or a voter in the county.
3. The attorney general, on behalf of the state, and the chairman of the state committee of a party, may institute any proceeding allowed herein relating to the returns of canvass by inspectors upon the vote of any ballot proposal submitted to the people of the state.
4. The court may direct a recanvass or the correction of an error, or the performance of any duty imposed by law on such a state, county, city, town or village board of inspectors, or canvassers.
5. A proceeding under subdivisions one and three of this section must be instituted within twenty days and under subdivision two, within thirty days after the election or alleged erroneous statement or determination was made, or the time when the board shall have acted in the particulars as to which it is claimed to have failed to perform its duty, except that such a proceeding with respect to a village election must be instituted within ten days after such election, statement, determination or action.
N.Y. Elec. Law § 16-106