-4- Nos. 56 & 58 candidate, Ms. Hawatmeh, left her out-of-state cancer treatment early in order to file her petition-related paperwork in New York on the advanced deadlines put into place due to the pandemic; she too has been struck from the ballot. In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, two branches of our state government have done their utmost to preserve both our democratic institutions and our people. The executive and legislative branches hurriedly adjusted the political calendar and requirements, while imposing numerous rules designed to curb the spread of the virus. The Appellate Division, First Department, confronted with the omnipresent specter of disease and death, took great pains to craft a narrow decision tailored to effectuate the intent of those branches and preserve the core of our democratic principles. I have two disagreements with our resolution of these cases. First, following our merits examination of these cases, we should have rescinded our grants of leave as improvident. There is no reason to retain these cases to restate law the majority contends is settled so that, when and if the next pandemic arrives, the lower courts of 2120 will have clear guidance. Second, the majority should have realized that as to these cases, our Election Law must be interpreted in light of the will of the legislature; the new, pandemicrelated laws; and, perhaps most importantly, the public health catastrophe facing New York. I. Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency on March 7, 2020. On March 14, in response to the added difficulties of running for public office during a global pandemic, the Governor issued Executive Order 202.2, reducing the number of signatures a candidate -4-