address) in the election district of the

district, county of........

assembly

State of New York. For the gen

eral election of 19.. I was registered from (state address) in the

election district of the

assembly district, county of

3. The certificate to the good character of the witness must be substantially as follows:

The undersigned hereby certifies to the good character and honesty of the following named person acting as witness to signatures upon a nominating certificate for the next ensuing election:

I certify that I have known the said witness for (here state length of acquaintance) and that all the facts herein stated as to the character, honesty, residence, business and business address of the witness certified to, are stated upon my knowledge.

Dated.

(Signature) (Residence)

...

If the person making such certificate of good character and honesty has not personal knowledge of all such facts, his certificate may nevertheless be accepted, provided he shall state therein that any fact, specifying it, not made on his personal knowledge, is made in good faith upon information received from another person whom he names, and further provided that he attaches a certificate of such other person in substantially the foregoing form stating such fact or facts upon personal knowledge. Such other person must be a qualified elector of the district for which the nomination is made.

4. Any such witness, candidate, member of committee to fill vacancies or other person, who makes a false affidavit, certificate or statement as thus provided for, and any officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments and aff davits who knowingly signs a certificate to a false affidavit, certificate or statement, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than three months.

5. The certificate of nomination and each separate paper thereof, if there be more than one such paper, shall contain the following declaration which shall be subscribed by the signers thereof:

"We the undersigned duly qualified electors of the district for which the nomination for public office is hereby made under the provisions of sections one hundred and twenty-two and one hundred and twenty-three of the election law do hereby declare that it is our intention to support at the polls the candidacy of the person or persons herein nominated for public office."

The certificate shall also contain the titles of the offices to be filled, the name and residence of each candidate nominated, and if in a city, the street number of such residence and his place of business, if any; and shall designate in not more than five words the political or other name which the signers shall select, which name shall not include the name of any organized political party.

A certificate may designate upon its face one or more persons as a committee to represent the signers thereof, for the purposes specified by section one hundred and thirty-five of this article. The signatures to the certificate of nomination need not all be appended to one paper. No person shall join in nominating more candidates for any one office than there are persons to be elected thereto, and no certificate shall contain the names of more candidates for any office than there are persons to be elected to such office.

6. The name of no person signing an independent certificate of nomination shall be counted unless such person shall on one of the days of registration in such year be registered as a qualified elector, and in case a candidate nominated by an independent certificate of nomination be at the time of filing the said certificate or afterwards the candidate of a political party for the same office the name of no person who is an enrolled member of such political party shall be counted, except where such nomination is afterwards made by a party committee or committee to fill vacancies. For the purpose of ascertaining whether the person whose name appears on an independent certificate of nomination signed such certificate, the affidavit or testimony of such person that he did not sign such certificate shall be prima facie evidence that he did not sign such certificate. If the name of a person who has signed a certificate of independent nomination appear upon another certificate nominating the same or a different person for the same office, it shall not be counted upon either certificate.

Derivation: Election Law, pt. of § 57, as amended by L. 1899, ch. 363, § 1; L. 1901, ch. 654, § 4.

Amended by L. 1911, ch. 649; L. 1916, ch. 537; L. 1918, ch. 323, in effect Apr. 24, 1918.

Consolidators' note.- The sentence requiring the adoption of an emblem by independent bodies is omitted, for the reason that this requirement is amply covered by section 124, which now relates by position as well as in express terms to emblems of parties and independent bodies equally.

Cross-references.- Misconduct in relation to certificates of nomination. Penal Law, § 760 (part 5, post). See also notes to Election Law, §§ 121, 124 and 125.

Forms.-Forms of independent certificate of nomination. See Forms (part 12, post).

Constitutionality of section.-The provisions of this section that "the signatures to a certificate of nomination need not all be appended to one paper" and that "no separate sheet comprising an independent certificate of nomination, where such certificate consists of more than one sheet, shall be received and filed with the custodian of primary records if five per centum of the names appearing on such sheet are fraudulent or forged," is not unconstitutional because individual nominations are not constrained to subject themselves to its operation. They may all sign a single sheet or each may sign a sheet by himself. Matter of Burke v. Terry (1911), 203 N. Y. 293. The primary function of the independent certificate of nomination is to indicate that a certain percentage of the qualified voters intend to support the candidate. Matter of Lynch (1919), 108 Misc. 668, 178 N. Y. Supp. 30. Requiring nominator to be registered is valid. The provision of the 1911 amendment that no person signing an independent certificate of nomination shall be counted unless such person shall on one of the days of registration in such year not be registered as a qualified elector tends to prevent fraud and to make more certain the good faith, of the persons seeking to present to the voters independent candidates for office. A person signing an independent certificate of nomination should be counted if he registers in such year either before or after signing such certificate. People ex rel Hotchkiss v. Smith ) (1912), 206 N. Y. 231, aff'g 152 App. Div. 514.

Placing name of candidate on other ticket is valid.- The provision of the 1911 amendment which requires that in case a candidate nominated by an independent certificate of nomination be at the time of the filing of such certificate or afterwards a candidate of a political party for the same office, no person who is an enrolled member of such political party shall be counted, is not an unreasonable provision. People ex rel. Hotchkiss v. Smith (1912), 206 N. Y. 231, aff'g 152 App. Div. 514.

Signing two or more independent certificates. The provision of the 1911 amendment that no person shall join in nominating more candidates for one office than there are persons to be elected thereto, when construed as only intended to prevent an elector from signing two independent nominating petitions for the same office, is not unreasonable. People ex rel. Hotchkiss v. Smith (1912), 206 N. Y. 231, aff'g 152 App. Div. 514.

Statutes now in force as to independent nominations.- Section 57 of chapter 680 and section 57 of chapter 909 of the laws of 1896, relative to number of signatures required upon a certificate for independent nomination are valid and constitutional and are now operative by reason of the unconstitutionality of such portion of section 122 as was so declared in People ex rel. Hotchkiss v. Smith, 206 N. Y. 231. People ex rel. Woodruff v. Britt (1912), 206 N. Y. 246.

Construction. The provisions relating to certificates of nomination by independent bodies should be liberally construed. Matter of McClosky (1897), 21 Misc. 365, 47 N. Y. Supp 294; Matter of Bulger (1905), 48 Misc. 584, 97 N. Y. Supp. 232. Report of Atty. Gen., Oct. 2, 1909.

The requirements that independent nominations shall be made by a certifi eate subscribed by electors of the State who are entitled to vote therein, and that each of such electors shall add to his signature his place of residence, and make oath that he is an elector and has truly stated his residence, are matters of substance and must be strictly followed. Matter of Adams (1897), 21 Misc. 396, 47 N. Y. Supp. 543.

Provisions of sections 122 and 123 indicate the purpose of the Legislature to

exclude from recognition as political parties, so far as making nominations by primary or convention is concerned, all new political bodies until they have obtained a following of ten thousand voters in a state election as attested on the vote for governor. Until a political party movement shall acquire that strength it must act in making nominations as an independent political body, and by independent certificate of election signed directly by electors. In such a case, also, the certificate may not use or include the name of any organized political party. It was the apparent purpose of that provision to prevent a politi cal body from acting in the making of nominations as an independent political body if it has acquired the status entitling it to nominate by primary and convention. But a political body which has acquired the right of nominating by primary and convention thereby loses its right to nominate by independent certificate of nomination, continuing during the period in which the party nominating status or strength of ten thousand votes on office of governor retained. Report of Atty.-Genl. (1907), 278-279.

Validity and sufficiency of certificate.—A certificate of independent nomination composed of several separate sheets, firmly bound together, constitutes but one separate paper within the meaning of this section and it is not necessary that there should appear upon each separate sheet thereof the declaration of the signers that it is their intention to support at the polls the candidacy of the person or persons therein nominated for public office. Matter of Bulger (1905), 48 Misc. 584, 97 N. Y. Supp. 232.

A certificate is not invalid because the requisite number of signatures are not found on a single sheet nor because more than one candidate is named in the same certificate. Matter of Fitzgerald (1906), 51 Misc. 491, 100 N. Y. Supp. 753; Matter of Farrell (1906), 51 Misc. 493, 100 N. Y. Supp. 754; Matter of Bennet (1907), 116 App. Div. 138, 102 N. Y. Supp. 353.

A certificate of independent nomination is not defective because some of the signers took the oath and acknowledgment before certain notaries who were nominated therein as candidates for office. Matter of Bulger (1905), 48 Misc. 584, 97 N. Y. Supp. 232.

Where sheets of two certificates for separate offices are joined together, the signatures being the same on each, it should appear from the notary's certifieate that persons who subscribed both certificates appeared and made oath before such officer as to each certificate. Matter of Independence League Nominations (1906), 51 Misc. 486, 100 N. Y. Supp. 760.

Indecipherable and illegible signatures to a certificate of nomination should be rejected, although the commissioner of elections may use the notary's certificate to aid him reading them; and illiterate electors should sign by a mark properly authenticated. Matter of Independence League Nominations (1906), 51 Misc. 486, 100 N. Y. Supp. 760.

The places of residence which the subscribers of a certificate of nomination. respectively, add to their signatures are conclusive; and where it appears upon the face of the certificate that the place of residence of a subscriber is outside the district, the commissioners should reject his name and may not resort to extrinsic evidence to show the fact that he resides in the district. Matter of Independence League Nominations (1906), 51 Misc. 486, 100 N. Y. Supp. 760.

The fact that some of the sheets of a certificate of nomination were delivered to the commissioner of elections on one day and the rest on the day following, which was the last day for filing such certificates, does not render the certificate invalid. Matter of Independence League Nominations (1906), 51 Misc. 486, 100 N. Y. Supp. 760.

When a sufficient number of signatures have been attacked by competent evidence establishing that the signers were nonresidents so as to bring the number below that required by the statute, the certificate is insufficient; affidavits showing that certain sheets were lost are insufficient to make up the deficiency in the absence of proof of the names of the signers and that any of them did sign the paper, or that it was properly executed and acknowledged. Matter of Quimby (1906), 116 App. Div. 142, 102 N. Y. Supp. 201.

Where a large number of signers to certificates of independent nominations made oath that they were duly qualified electors of the district for which the nominations were made and added their street number and named their Assembly and Senate districts, it was held that such additions to their signatures were sufficient designations of their residences, although the city and borough were omitted. Matter of Farrell (1906), 51 Misc. 493, 100 N. Y. Supp. 754.

A certificate is not to be rejected because the districts of all the candidates are not coterminous; and every elector who subscribes to it may not, therefore, vote for all the offices named therein. Matter of Farrell (1906), 51 Misc. 493, 100 N. Y. Supp. 754.

A certificate purporting to nominate several candidates for distinct offices to be voted for in several districts not coterminous does not comply with this section. Matter of Bennet (1907), 116 App. Div. 138, 102 N. Y. Supp. 353.

It is impossible to treat a certificate purporting to nominate several candidates for distinct offices to be voted for in several districts not coterminous as sufficient to nominate for one office therein named, and to treat the attempt to nominate for other offices as surplusage. Matter of Bennet (1907), 116 App. Div. 138, 102 N. Y. Supp. 353.

It is intended that the certificate naming a candidate for election in any particular district should be confined to nominating candidates in that particular district, whether the district comprises the whole state or lesser territory. Matter of Bennet (1907), 116 App. Div. 138, 102 N. Y. Supp. 353.

If any person joins in a certificate of independent nomination who has joined in a certificate nominating another candidate for the same office, his signature must be disregarded. Matter of Smith (1903), 41 Misc. 501, 85 N. Y. Supp. 14.

Where the persons signing a certificate of nomination do not subscribe the oath required by the statute, the certificate has no apparent conformity with the statute and may properly be rejected on that account, although regular in all other respects. People ex rel. Oliver v. Police Commissioners (1894), 10 Misc. 200, 64 N. Y. St. Rep. 21, 31 N. Y. Supp.

467.

The oaths attached to certificates of independent nominations must be signed by the persons making such nominations, and must be filed with the certificates. People ex rel. Klinker v. Police Com'r (1893), 31 N. Y. Supp. 469.

When certificates of independent nominations are required to be filed in the same office, one of such certificates is not invalid because made for the nomination of more than one candidate, where the electors making it are qualified to make a certificate for the nomination of all the candidates named therein. Matter of Independent Nominations (1906), 186 N. Y. 268, rev'g 133 App. Div. 463.

The certificate of oath to a certificate of nomination is good, though it does not state that the signers were known to the notary or other