aforesaid his signatures, if they bear the same date, shall not be counted, and if they bear different dates they shall be counted in the order of their priority of date and only so far as he was entitled to make designations. A signature made earlier than eleven weeks before the official primary shall be void and of no effect; but if bearing a date within such period it shall be counted in the first instance by the board or officer with which or whom the petition is offered for filing, subject to judicial review if objections be filed under section fifty-five-a of this chapter.

Added by L. 1911, ch. 891; and amended by L. 1913, ch. 820; L. 1915, ch. 678; L. 1916, ch. 537; L. 1917, chs. 703, 723 and 778, in effect June 1, 4 and 8, 1917. As subd. 5 is amended to read as follows by chs. 723 and 778, and as subd. 1 is amended to read as follows by chs. 703 and 723, the additional changes made in subd. 1 by ch. 703 and in subd. 5 by ch. 723 are not inserted.

Defective petition. — A petition purporting to designate persons as independent candidates for county and ward committeemen is insufficient where it fails to state the time of holding primary election, the ward or county committee for which the candidates are designated, the place of residence of the candidates or the signers and the certificate of acknowledgment does not contain the names of the latter. Matter of King (1913), 155 App. Div. 720.

Amendment of defective petition. -Where a petition for the designation of an independent candidate is defective and the time to file such petition has expired a justice of the Supreme Court has no power to allow an amended petition to be filed nunc pro tunc. Matter of King (1913), 155 App. Div. 720.

§ 49. Filing of designations.

1. Where to be filed. All designations of candidates for offices and for election to party positions shall be filed with the officer with whom independent certificates of nomination for such office or offices are required by this chapter to be filed. All designations filed in accordance with the provisions of this section or certified copies thereof shall forthwith be conspicuously posted by the secretary of state or custodian of primary records in his office, and shall remain so posted until primary day, and shall be open to inspection as publie records at all reasonable hours, and each such officer shall provide ample and sufficient facilities for keeping and posting said records and for making copies of the same. Forthwith upon the filing of a petition, designating a person for nomination to public office, the board or officer with whom the same is filed shall mail notice thereof to each person named as a candidate for nomination to such office in such petition.

2. When to be filed. All designations shall be filed not earlier than the fifth Tuesday and not later than the fourth Tuesday preceding the primary at which the candidates therein designated are to be voted for. All designations shall at the time of the filing thereof be stamped or indorsed by the secretary of state, or the custodian of primary records, as the case may be, with the day, hour and minute of such filing.

Added by L. 1911, ch. 891; and amended by L. 1913, ch. 820; L. 1914, ch. 244; L. 1916, ch. 537, in effect May 15, 1916.

§ 50. Declination by person designated.

The name of a person designated as a candidate for nomination for party position shall not be printed on the official ballot if he notifies the officer with whom the original certificate of his designation is filed in a writing signed and duly acknowledged by him that he declines the designation. Such declination, to be effective, must be filed within three days after the third Tuesday preceding the ensuing primary. The officer with whom such declination is field shall forthwith inform by mail or otherwise the committee authorized to fill vacancies in designations, and if such declination be filed with the secretary of state, such officer shall also give immediate notice by mail or otherwise of such declination to the several custodians of primary records for the election districts affected by such declination. The vacancy created by such declination shall be filled not later than the second Tuesday, preceding the primary election.

If a candidate designated for nomination does not decline the designation within the time hereinbefore mentioned, and he is thereafter nominated at

the official primary election, his name shall be printed on the official ballot as the candidate of the party or body holding the primary, and he shall not be permitted to decline such nomination.

Added by L. 1911, ch. 891, and amended by L. 1913, ch. 820; L. 1914, ch. 244; L. 1917, ch. 703, in effect June 1, 1917.

§ 51. Certification by secretary of state.

The secretary of state shall, not later than the second Thursday before an official primary election, except a primary election held to nominate candidates to be voted for at a special election, prepare and transmit to the several custodians of primary records within the political subdivisions where the candidates, designations of whom have been duly filed with him are to be voted for, a certificate setting forth the names and residences of such candidates and the titles of the offices for which they are named, and the name of the party upon whose primary ballot their names are to be placed, and the order in which such candidates' names are to be printed under the title of an office or party position, and the order of groups of candidates for the same position, if any.

Added by L. 1911, ch. 891, and amended by L. 1913, ch. 820, and L. 1914, ch. 244, in effect Apr. 8, 1914.

§ 52. Vacancies in designations, how filled.

If a candidate regularly designated for election to party position, or for a party nomination for public office, declines a designation or dies before the primary day, or is found to be disqualified to hold the office or position for which he has been designated, the committee to fill vacancies, if any, which may be appointed by the signers and shown upon the face of the petition of designation, may make a new designation, to fill the vacancy so created, by making and filing with the officer with whom the original designation was filed a certificate setting forth the cause of the vacancy, the name of the person designated by them, the name of the original candidate, and the name of the party for whose primary the original designation was made. Such certificate shall be subscribed and acknowledged by a maiority of the members of the committee to fill vacancies, who shall severally make oath that the matters therein stated are true, to the best of their knowledge and belief, and when so filed such certificate shall have the same force and effect as the original designating petition. In case such certificate shall be filed with the secretary of state, he shall forthwith certify to the proper custodian, or custodians, of primary records the name of the person designated by such certificate and such other facts as are required to be stated therein. In case the certificate from the secretary of state shall be received by a custodian of

primary records, or an original certificate of designation as in this section provided for shall be filed with him, after the official ballots have been printed and before primary day, it shall be his duty to prepare and furnish to the inspectors of election in each election district affected adhesive pasters containing the name of the candidate designated to fill the vacancy with directions for the proper use thereof. The pasters shall be of plain white paper, printed in plain black ink and in the same kind of type used in printing the names of the candidates upon the official ballots, and shall be of a size as large as and no longer than the space occupied upon the official ballot by the name of the candidate in whose place the candidate named upon the paster has been designated. Whenever such pasters are provided, the officer or board furnishing them shall certify, to the inspectors of election in the election districts affected by the vacancy, the name of the person originally designated, the name of the person designated in the new certificate, the title of the office or party position for which the designation is made, the name of the political party to which the committee making the designation belongs, and shall state the number of pasters furnished, which number shall be equal to the number of official ballots furnished for each such district. Upon the delivery of said pasters the inspectors of election shall sign and receipt for the same, which receipt shall be retained by the officer or board furnishing the pasters, and shall be part of the record of his or their office. The inspectors shall affix one of such pasters in the proper place and in a proper manner upon each official ballot before such ballot shall be delivered to a voter. When so affixed to an official ballot the paster shall be a part of the official ballot. The inspectors shall include in their statement of ballots a statement showing the number of pasters received by them, the number of pasters affixed to official ballots and the number of unused pasters returned by them, the unused pasters to be inclosed in the package of ballots not delivered to voters. The use of any paster upon the official ballot otherwise than as herein provided is hereby prohibited.

Added by L. 1911, ch. 891, and amended by L. 1913, ch. 820, in effect Dec. 17, 1913.

53. Delegates to national party conventions.

The rules and regulations of each political party may prescribe that the delegates and alternates to a national convention of that party shall be elected from congressional districts, or partly from the state at large and partly from congressional districts but such rules shall not provide for the election of more than four delegates and four alternates from the state at large. In each year when a president of the United States is to be elected, delegates and alternates-at-large, and district delegates and alternates, to national

party conventions shall be elected at the spring primary. Candi dates for the position of delegates and alternates-at-large to said conventions shall be designated in the same manner as prescribed by this chapter for the designation of candidates for party nominations for offices to be filled by the voters of the entire state, and district delegates and alternates to said convention shall be designated in the same manner as prescribed by this chapter for the designation of candidates for party nominations for the office of representative in congress; save that the time for filing designations as hereinbefore prescribed shall be computed with respect to the spring primary instead of the fall primary.

Added by L 1911, ch. 891, and amended by L. 1912, ch. 4, and L. 1913, ch 820, in effect Dec. 17, 1913.

The law gives the party the right to designate the unit of representation upon the state committee and for delegates to the national convention; it may decide that the unit of representation shall be the congressional district the entire state, or it may decide that the unit of representation shall be in part the congressional district and in part the state. Report of Atty.-Gen., 1911, Vol. 2, p. 677.

Order on ballot of names of candidates for delegates to national convention. Since there is no direction in the Election Law as to the order in which names of candidates for delegates to the national convention shall be placed upon the ballot, the court has no power to interfere with the acts of the boards of elections. Matter of Duell (1912), 149 App. Div. 690.

54. Presidential electors.

In each year when a president of the United States is to be elected, candidates for the office of elector for president and vicepresident of the United States shall be nominated by the state committee of each of the parties to which this act applies, one for each congressional district, and two at large. The candidates so nominated shall be certified to the secretary of state in the same manner as party nominations for state offices.

Derivation: Added by L. 1911, ch. 891, § 29, in effect Nov. 15, 1911.

855. Existing state and county committees continued.

Party state and county committees now existing shall continue until their successors are elected as provided for in this act.

Added by L. 1911, ch. 891, and amended by L. 1912, ch. 4, and L. 1913, chs. 587, 820, in effect Dec. 17, 1913.

Designation by existing committee. As to designation of candidate for state committee men by existing committee at time of enactment of this section, see Matter of Trombley (1912), 150 App. Div. 415.

Vote by proxy. Where the rules of a party committee, appointed before the statute authorizing committee designations was enacted, permit members to vote by proxy, they may do so, and designations made on votes so cast are valid. Matter of Daniel (1912), 149 App. Div. 777.

§ 55a. Objections to designating petitions.

A written objection to any petition for the designation of a

candidate for party nomination or for election to party position may be filed with the board or officer with whom the original petition is filed within three days after the filing of such petition. If such objection be filed, notice thereof shall be given forthwith by mail to the committee, if any, appointed on the face of such petition for the purpose specified in sections forty-eight and fifty-two of this chapter, and also to each candidate designated by such petition. The questions raised by such written objection shall be heard and determined as prescribed in section one hundred and twenty-five of this chapter. The supreme court, at special term, in any judicial district in which two or more proceedings are pending in such district under the provisions of this section may, by order, consolidate all such proceedings and provide that further proceedings therein be had before such court at special term, in all cases where the question or questions involved are identical. If one or more of such proceedings be pending before a justice or county judge, notice of such order shall be forthwith given to such. justice or judge.

Added by L. 1913, ch. 820, and amended by L. 1914, ch. 244, in effect Apr. 8, 1914.

Time of raising objection. The question of eligibility may be raised after the election. Matter of Werther (1916), 94 Misc. 681, 158 N. Y. Supp. 321.

§ 56. Contests; judicial review.

Any action or neglect of the officers or members of a political convention or committee, or of any inspector of primary election, or of any public officer or board with regard to the right of any person to participate in a primary election, convention or committee, or to enroll with any party, or with regard to any right given to or duty prescribed for, any voter, political committee, political convention, officer or board, by this article, shall be reviewable by summary proceedings upon the petition of any person aggrieved thereby, or upon a petition presented by the chairman of any political committee, which summary proceedings may be instituted before the supreme court or a justice thereof within the judicial district where the transaction, act or neglect of duty took place. Such proceedings shall be heard upon such notice as the court or justice thereof shall direct. In reviewing such action or neglect, the court, justice or judge shall consider, but need not be controlled by, any action or determination of the regularly constituted party authorities upon the questions arising in reference thereto, and shall make such decision and order as, under all the facts and circumstances of the case, justice may require. For the purposes of this section, service of any notice or order or other process of the court or justice thereof upon the chairman or secretary of a committee or board whose action is sought to be reviewed or directed shall be sufficient. The action of any custodian of primary records in canvassing and certifying the result of any