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-9- Nos. 56 & 58 away from other individuals (William Feurer and Noah Higgins-Dunn, Cuomo orders most New Yorkers to stay inside — ‘we’re all under quarantine now’, NBC News [March 20, 2020] [“Sick people shouldn’t leave their home unless they need to go to the doctor or hospital, [Governor Cuomo] said”]; see also Governor Cuomo Signs the ‘New York State on PAUSE’ Executive Order). As regularly repeated by government and public health officials, the success or failure of the public health directives depended on public compliance. B. Petitioner filed an affidavit in support of her request to validate her petitions with Supreme Court, stating that during March 2020, she was in close contact with many constituents while assisting hospitals, healthcare facilities, NYCHA residents and businesses. Notably, this contact included many visits to “Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home on the Upper Eastside to help constituents, which subsequently was cited as having the highest COVID-19 related deaths in Manhattan.” She stated she was also exposed to COVID-19 through close contact with three assemblymembers who later tested positive for the virus. And during the week of March 15th, petitioner personally experienced symptoms of COVID-19, leading her to be excused on March 18, 2020 from voting on Chapter 24 of the Laws of 2020 due to her symptoms. On March 24, 2020, petitioner had been diagnosed with and was experiencing “a contagious and infectious viral syndrome,” requiring her to continue to self-quarantine as the deadline for filing a certificate of https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/travel-large-gatherings-and-quarantines [having “March 9, 2020” in the document title] [last accessed May 20, 2020]). -9-

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Seawright v. Board of Elections & In re Hawatmeh v. State Board of Elections

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether late filings during the COVID-9 pandemic constitute unique circumstances that would permit remedy of the fatal defect when otherwise not provide in law.

Alleged Acts: On March 19, 2020 Seawright filed a petition for candidacy for the 76th Assembly District on the Democratic Party primary ballot. The petition itself consisted of more than ten pages and a coversheet was required for both. Seawright failed to file the coversheet by the March 20th deadline. Similarly, on March 19, 2020 Seawright filed a petition for the exact same office under the Working Families Party. This petition required a certificate accepting the designation because Seawright did not belong to that political party. Seawright failed to meet the march 24th deadline for this filing. The City Board invalidated both petitions based on the failure to file the required documents. On March 20, 2020 Hawatmeh filed a petition as a Conservative Party Member for the 19th Congressional District. From March 20-March 24, 2020 Hawatmeh was out of town for a prescheduled cancer treatment. Hawatmeh was not a member of the Conservative Party and was accordingly required to file a certificate accepting the designation. Hawatmeh failed to file by the March 24th deadline and the State Board designated the petition invalid.

Procedural history: The First Appellate Division determined that the COVID-9 pandemic presented unique circumstance and that the late filing of a cover sheet and certificate of acceptance was not a constitute fatal defect. However, the Third Appellate Division reached the opposite verdict in In re Hawatmeh v. New York State Board of Elections.

Summary: New York’s Electoral Code requires that any failure to file “shall be a fatal defect.” The court mandates often upheld these strict deadlines, despite the circumstances of the potential candidate. The court stated that COVID-19 has impacted many candidates and although many legislative directives have been relaxed, the candidates must still timely file. The court state that the legislature must be the party to create exception to the law, should it need them, not the judicial system. Further, the cover sheets and firm could be submitted by an agent, so even if Seawright and Hawatmeh were unable, the forms could be filed by members of the campaigns. Alternatively, Executive Order 202.7 permitted audio-visual technology or mailed to the Board of Elections. More than 1,000 petitions were timely filed, many of whom experienced the same of similar circumstances.

Conclusion: The Court of Appeals reversed Seawright and affirmed Hawatmeh.

Legal Issue(s)

Candidate Registration
Health Concerns & Election Administration

Applicable Law(s): NYCRR 6215.1 [b]&[e}

Region: Americas

Country: United States of America

Language of Decision

English

Court: Appellate Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: May 21, 2020

Geolocation

Latitude: 40.73592033063037

Longitude: -73.99396234616334

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

Seawright v. Board of Elections.pdf
English
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Election Judgments - IFES

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Seawright v. Board of Elections & In re Hawatmeh v. State Board of Elections

Primary Documents

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