N.Y. Elec. Law § 7-116
Ballots; order of names on
Redline — January 1, 2018 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2023
As of January 1, 2018
§ 7-116. Ballots; order of names on. 1. In printing the names of\ncandidates on the ballot, the candidate or candidates of the party which\npolled for its candidate for the office of governor at the last\npreceding election for such office the highest number of votes, shall be\nrow or column A or one and the candidates of the other parties shall be\nplaced on such ballot in descending order of such votes.\n 2. The officer or board who or which prepares the ballot shall\ndetermine the order in which shall appear, below the names of party\ncandidates the nominations made only by independent bodies. Such officer\nor board also shall determine the order in which shall be printed, in a\nsection of such ballot the names of two or more candidates nominated by\none party or independent body, for an office to which two or more\npersons are to be elected; provided, however, that any such candidate\nmay, by a writing filed with such board or officer not later than one\nweek after the adjournment of the convention or one week after the\nprimary election nominating him, or otherwise not later than two days\nafter the filing of the petition or certificate nominating him, demand\nthat such order be determined by lot, and in that case such order shall\nbe so determined, upon two days notice by mail given by such board or\nofficer to each candidate for such office. The state board of elections\nshall perform the duties required by this subdivision in all cases\naffecting nominations filed in its office.\n 3. The officer or board with whom or which are filed the designations\nfor a public office or party position shall determine by lot, upon two\ndays notice by mail given by such board or officer to each candidate for\nsuch office or position and to the committee, if any, named in the\ndesignating petition, the order in which shall be printed on the\nofficial primary ballot, under the title of the office or position, the\nnames of candidates for public office, the names of candidates for a\nparty position to which not more than one person is to be elected, and\nthe groups of names of candidates for party position where two or more\npersons are to be elected thereto and any petition designates two or\nmore persons therefor, provided, however, that whenever groups of names\nfor more than one party position are designated by the same petition,\nthe order in which they shall be printed on the official primary ballot\nshall be determined by a single lot. Candidates for delegate or\ndelegates and alternate delegate or delegates to conventions designated\nby the same petition shall, for the purpose of this subdivision, be\ntreated as one group. The names of candidates, if any, for a party\nposition to which two or more persons are to be elected, who are\ndesignated by individual petitions and not in a group shall be printed\nbelow such group or groups, in such order between themselves, as such\nofficer or board shall determine by lot upon the notice specified in\nthis subdivision. The names within a group of candidates designated for\nparty position by one petition shall be printed in the same order in\nwhich they appear in the petition, unless they appear in a different\norder on different pages of the petition, in which case their order\nwithin the group shall be determined by such officer or board by lot\nupon the notice specified in this subdivision. Candidates for members of\na state committee designated by a single petition shall, for the\npurposes of this subdivision, be treated as one group. However, the\nnotice to a committee of the drawing need not be mailed to more than\nfive members, if there be that many, and as to offices or party\npositions for which designating petitions are filed with the board of\nelections of the city of New York the notice shall be given to the\ncommittees only.\n 3-a. The state board of elections shall prescribe the method, or two\nor more alternative methods, for making the determinations by lot\nrequired by subdivisions two and three of this section. Each county\nboard of elections shall adopt one of such methods at least ninety days\nbefore any election to which such method shall apply.\n 4. If a vacancy in a designation or nomination be filled after the\nmaking, in the manner provided in this section, of a determination of\nthe order in which the names of candidates for the office or position\nare to be printed, the name of the candidate designated or nominated to\nfill such vacancy shall be printed in the place so determined for the\noriginal candidate.\n 5. The titles of public offices shall appear on ballots for primary\nelections in the same consecutive order that they will appear on the\ngeneral election ballot. The titles of the party positions shall appear\nin the following order: member of state committee, assembly district\nleader, associate assembly district leader, members of county committee\nin the city of New York, delegate or delegates to conventions, alternate\ndelegate or delegates to conventions, and members of county committee in\ncounties outside of the city of New York. Where, pursuant to the rules\nof the county committee, the party position involved is that of assembly\ndistrict leader or associate assembly district leader for a part of an\nassembly district, such part shall be so indicated in the title on the\nballot.\n 6. In the city of New York, the ballot on the voting machine for\nprimary elections shall conform to the following additional provisions:\n The names of the candidates designated for such public office or party\nposition in the primary of a party shall be placed under the title of\nthe office or position in the alphabetical order of their surnames, in\nthe first or lowest numbered assembly district and election district of\nany political unit or subdivision within a county. If candidates'\nsurnames are identical, their given or first name shall determine their\norder. Thereafter the names shall be rotated by election districts by\ntransposing the first named candidate to the bottom of the order at each\nsucceeding election district, so that each name shall appear first and\nin each other position in an equal number, as nearly as possible, of the\nelection districts and except, further, that where two or more\ncandidates are to be elected to the same party position, the names of\ncandidates for such a position which appear on the same designating\npetition shall be grouped together on the ballot in the order in which\ntheir names appear on the designating petition and the group rotated\nalphabetically in relation to other groups or individual candidates\naccording to the surname of the first person on the designating petition\nof such group. Groups of candidates for delegate and alternate delegate,\nand groups of candidates for male and female delegate and male and\nfemale alternate delegate to the same convention designated on the same\npetition shall be rotated together alphabetically in relation to other\ngroups or individual candidates according to the surname of the first\nperson listed on such designating petition in the group of candidates\nfor whichever of such delegate or alternate delegate positions will\nappear first on the voting machine. If the rules of a party committee\nprovide for equal representation of the sexes among the members of a\nstate committee elected from each unit of representation, elections for\nmale and female members of such a committee from a single unit of\nrepresentation shall be conducted as elections for two different party\npositions. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, if the\nboard of elections has assigned numbers to the candidates for an office\nor position because of identical or similar names among such candidates,\nthe names of such candidates shall be placed under the title of such\noffice or position in the order of such numbers in such first or lowest\nnumbered district, and the names shall not be rotated by election\ndistrict. Such names shall appear in the identical order on each ballot\nin each election district.\n County committee candidates or groups of candidates shall be printed\nwithin the first election district of each assembly district or part\nthereof, according to the priority of filing of designating petitions\nand they shall then be rotated by election district by placing the\ncandidate or group of candidates designated in the same petition as the\ncandidate or group of candidates which was printed first in an election\ndistrict at the bottom of the order in the next succeeding election\ndistrict in which a candidate or group of candidates designated in such\npetition appears on the ballot.\n In cases where a name is added to or removed from the ballot by court\norder too late to make a complete adjustment to these requirements\nfeasible, the name may be added at the bottom of the list of candidates\nin all election districts, or removed from the ballot in all election\ndistricts without changing the previously arranged order of other names\nand without invalidating the election. Any inadvertent error in the\norder of names discovered too late to correct the order of the names on\nthe ballots concerned shall not invalidate an election.\n Except where a contest or candidate is removed from the ballot by\ncourt order too late to make complete compliance with this paragraph\nfeasible, the title of each public office or party position and the\nnames of the candidates for such office or position appearing on any\nvoting machine used for primary elections in the city of New York shall\nappear on such machine immediately adjacent to one another, either\nhorizontally or vertically; and no blank spaces shall separate the names\nof candidates actually running for an office or party position on such\nvoting machine, and no blank spaces shall separate any two such offices\nor positions which appear on such voting machine in the same column or\nrow.\n 7. Whenever a county board of elections or the board of elections in\nthe city of New York must conduct a primary election in the respective\ncounty or the city of New York in which separate contests for both male\nand female candidates for the same party position are to be printed upon\nthe ballots, the respective county board of elections or the board of\nelections in the city of New York shall determine by lot whether to\nfirst print the contest for the male candidates or the contest for the\nfemale candidates. After such determination, the same order shall be\nused for all ballots printed by the board of elections for the entire\ncounty or city of New York and for all contests where there are\nelections separated by male and female candidates for the same party\nposition.\n
§ 7-116. Ballots; order of names on. 1. In printing the names of\ncandidates on the ballot, the candidate or candidates of the party which\npolled for its candidate for the office of governor at the last\npreceding election for such office the highest number of votes, shall be\nrow or column A or one and the candidates of the other parties shall be\nplaced on such ballot in descending order of such votes.\n 2. The officer or board who or which prepares the ballot shall\ndetermine the order in which shall appear, below the names of party\ncandidates the nominations made only by independent bodies. Such officer\nor board also shall determine the order in which shall be printed the\nnames of two or more candidates nominated by one party or independent\nbody, for an office to which two or more persons are to be elected;\nprovided, however, that any such candidate may, by a writing filed with\nsuch board or officer not later than three business days after the\nadjournment of the convention or one week after the primary election\nnominating him or her, or otherwise not later than two days after the\nfiling of the petition or certificate nominating him or her, demand that\nsuch order be determined by lot, and in that case such order shall be so\ndetermined, upon two days notice by mail given by such board or officer\nto each candidate for such office. The state board of elections shall\nperform the duties required by this subdivision in all cases affecting\nnominations filed in its office.\n 3. The officer or board with whom or which are filed the designations\nfor a public office or party position shall determine by lot, upon two\ndays notice by mail given by such board or officer to each candidate for\nsuch office or position and to the committee, if any, named in the\ndesignating petition, the order in which shall be printed on the\nofficial primary ballot, under the title of the office or position, the\nnames of candidates for public office, the names of candidates for a\nparty position to which not more than one person is to be elected, and\nthe groups of names of candidates for party position where two or more\npersons are to be elected thereto and any petition designates two or\nmore persons therefor, provided, however, that whenever groups of names\nfor more than one party position are designated by the same petition,\nthe order in which they shall be printed on the official primary ballot\nshall be determined by a single lot. Candidates for delegate or\ndelegates and alternate delegate or delegates to conventions designated\nby the same petition shall, for the purpose of this subdivision, be\ntreated as one group. The names of candidates, if any, for a party\nposition to which two or more persons are to be elected, who are\ndesignated by individual petitions and not in a group shall be printed\nafter such group or groups, in such order between themselves, as such\nofficer or board shall determine by lot upon the notice specified in\nthis subdivision. The names within a group of candidates designated for\nparty position by one petition shall be printed in the same order in\nwhich they appear in the petition, unless they appear in a different\norder on different pages of the petition, in which case their order\nwithin the group shall be determined by such officer or board by lot\nupon the notice specified in this subdivision. Candidates for members of\na state committee designated by a single petition shall, for the\npurposes of this subdivision, be treated as one group. However, the\nnotice to a committee of the drawing need not be mailed to more than\nfive members, if there be that many, and as to offices or party\npositions for which designating petitions are filed with the board of\nelections of the city of New York the notice shall be given to the\ncommittees only.\n 3-a. The state board of elections shall prescribe the method, or two\nor more alternative methods, for making the determinations by lot\nrequired by subdivisions two and three of this section. Each county\nboard of elections shall adopt one of such methods at least ninety days\nbefore any election to which such method shall apply.\n 4. If a vacancy in a designation or nomination be filled after the\nmaking, in the manner provided in this section, of a determination of\nthe order in which the names of candidates for the office or position\nare to be printed, to the extent practicable, the name of the candidate\ndesignated or nominated to fill such vacancy shall be printed in the\nplace so determined for the original candidate.\n 5. The titles of public offices shall appear on ballots for primary\nelections in the same consecutive order that they will appear on the\ngeneral election ballot. The titles of the party positions shall appear\nin the following order: member of state committee, assembly district\nleader, associate assembly district leader, members of county committee\nin the city of New York, delegate or delegates to conventions, alternate\ndelegate or delegates to conventions, and members of county committee in\ncounties outside of the city of New York. Where, pursuant to the rules\nof the county committee, the party position involved is that of assembly\ndistrict leader or associate assembly district leader for a part of an\nassembly district, such part shall be so indicated in the title on the\nballot.\n 6. (a) In cases where a name is added to or removed from the ballot by\ncourt order too late to make a complete adjustment to these requirements\nfeasible, the name may be added at the end of the list of candidates in\nall election districts, or removed from the ballot in all election\ndistricts without changing the previously arranged order of other names\nand without invalidating the election. Any inadvertent error in the\norder of names discovered too late to correct the order of the names on\nthe ballots concerned shall not invalidate an election.\n (b) Except where a contest or candidate is removed from the ballot by\ncourt order too late to make complete compliance with this paragraph\nfeasible, the title of each public office or party position and the\nnames of the candidates for such office or position appearing on any\nballot used for primary elections over which the county board of\nelections has jurisdiction shall appear on such ballot immediately\nadjacent to one another, either horizontally or vertically; and no blank\nspaces shall separate the names of candidates actually running for an\noffice or party position on such ballot, and no blank spaces shall\nseparate any two such offices or positions which appear on such ballot\nin the same column or row.\n 7. Whenever a county board of elections or the board of elections in\nthe city of New York must conduct a primary election in the respective\ncounty or the city of New York in which separate contests for candidates\nof different genders for the same party position are to be printed upon\nthe ballots, and when rules require these positions be listed separately\non the ballot, the respective county board of elections or the board of\nelections in the city of New York shall determine by lot the order of\nthe various gendered contests. This lottery will be conducted separately\nfor each election that is separated by gender.\n
Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.