Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
Signatures on an independent nominating petition must be invalidated where the subscribing witness previously signed, as signatory, a designating or nominating petition "of another party for the same office" ( Matter of McLiverty v. Lefever, 133 A.D.2d 720, 721; see also, Election Law, §§ 6-138, 6-140; Matter of Sinagra v. Hogan, 97 A.D.2d 643, 644, affd 60 N.Y.2d 811, 813; Matter of Lavelle v. Gonzalez, 93 A.D.2d 896, 897, affd 59 N.Y.2d 670; Matter of Bartolomeo v. Acito, 65 A.D.2d 660, 661; Matter of Carroll v. McNab, 59 A.D.2d 727; Matter of De Bruin v. McGee, 54 A.D.2d 745, affd 40 N.Y.2d 909; Matter of Doran v. Scranton, 49 A.D.2d 976; Matter of Eaton v. Monahan, 72 Misc.2d 676, 678-679).
The Supreme Court properly determined that this restriction is reasonable and nondiscriminatory ( see, Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428, 438; Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780, 788; Signorelli v. New York State Bd. of Elections, 195 WL 548712 [ND NY, Sept. 11, 1995, Scullin, J.]), and that the restriction is justified by legitimate State interests ( see, Signorelli v. New York State Bd. of Elections, supra; Johnson v. Cuomo, 595 F. Supp. 1126; see also, Matter of Eaton v. Monahan, supra).
No ambiguity is created by the use of the word "appears" in Election Law § 6-138 ( see, Matter of Sinagra v. Hogan, 97 A.D.2d 643, supra). The Supreme Court properly declined to determine the petitioner's remaining contention in light of the paucity of the record before it.
Since 1,439 signatures were witnessed on the nominating petitions by persons who previously signed Democratic Party designating petitions for the same office, the signatures on the nominating petitions were properly disqualified and the proceeding was properly dismissed. We reach no determination regarding the disqualification of the remaining 2 signatures on the ground that the witnesses signed their own nominating petitions as this issue was not raised on appeal. Mangano, P.J., Ritter, Santucci and Krausman, JJ., concur.