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Nos. 56 & 58
to file such certificates, petitions, objections or
specifications. Failure of the post office or any other person
or entity to deliver any such petition, certificate or
objection to such board of elections outside the city of New
York no later than two business days after the last day to
file such certificates, petitions, objections or specifications
shall be a fatal defect”
(emphases added).
Election Law § 1-106 (1), thus, contains different geographically based timeliness
requirements for certificates of acceptance and other election-related filings: one for filings
made with boards of elections within New York City, and one for filings made with all
other boards of elections, including the State Board of Elections, the board to which Ms.
Hawatmeh’s certificate was sent. The requirement for postmarking on the last day to file
– March 24 – applies to New York City only. The exception for all other boards of
elections, including the State Board of Elections, contains no postmarking requirement,
only a requirement that the applicable board of elections receives the certificate of
acceptance no later than two days after the last date to file – here, March 26. Two other
features of the statute confirm the plain words used in the exception. First, the New York
City postmarking requirement applies to papers “sent by mail,” whereas the provision for
filing outside of New York City permits filing by “mail or overnight delivery service.”
Overnight delivery services cannot provide a postmark. Second, for filings sent to boards
of elections outside of New York City, the statute contains a special provision making it a
“fatal defect” if the post office or other delivery service fails to deliver the filing within the
two-day period. That provision would be superfluous under the majority’s interpretation.
Concluding, as the majority does, that the State Board’s receipt of Ms. Hawatmeh’s petition
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