- 13 - Nos. 56 & 58 In fact, our prior holding in Settineri v DiCarlo, in which we validated the nominating certificates submitted by a technically functus officio County Republican Committee Chairperson because it was impossible for a qualifying Chairperson to make the official nomination, suggests that Election Law § 1-106 (2) must be read in line with legislative intent (82 NY2d 813, 816 [1993]).5 While the Appellate Division held in Settineri that the defect could not be corrected because the Election Law requirements are strict and the deadline could have been met if party had taken specific steps, such as asking the Board of Elections to expedite their canvassing, this Court reversed the Appellate Division on the basis of the dissent below (Settineri v DiCarlo, 197 AD2d 724, 725-26 [2d Dept 1993]; Settineri, 82 NY2d at 816). Notably, this Court adopted the reasoning that “the legislature did not intend to disenfranchise voters by that framework of time seek medical treatment, unrelated to COVID-19, out of state. Further, the Appellate Division in Hawatmeh did not make a factual finding that the late filing of the certificate of acceptance was solely caused by the petitioner’s illness with or quarantine due to COVID-19, as was the case here (see Hawatmeh, 2020 NY Slip Op 02900 [3d Dept May 14, 2020]). However, I would reverse in Hawatmeh on timeliness grounds and join that portion of Section III (B) of Judge Wilson’s dissent in which my colleague explains the petitioner’s certificate of acceptance was timely filed under the plain language of Election Law § 1-106 (1). 5 Specifically, in Settineri, the impossibility of a qualifying Chairperson filing the certificates was due to three overlapping rules and statutes: (1) a statutory requirement that a nomination must be filed after a primary election is held but within the seven days after the election; (2) a statute that allows the Board of Elections to take up to nine days to canvass a primary election’s votes and certify the outcome of the election (and the Board took eight days in this particular case); and (3) the Republican Party’s own rules that require the County Committee to elect a new Chairperson, who would have had the authority to file the nomination certificates, within 20 days after a primary election (Settineri v DiCarlo, 197 AD2d 724, 726-27 [2d Dept 1993] [Balletta, J. dissenting]). Since the Board of Elections took eight days to canvass the voices and certify the outcome of the primary election, it was impossible for a qualifying Chairperson to meet the seven-day nominating deadline (id. at 727). - 13 -