N.Y. Election Law § 7-104: Ballots; form of

§ 7-104. Ballots; form of. 1. All ballots shall be printed and/or

displayed in a format and arrangement, of such uniform size and style as

will fit the ballot, and shall be in as plain and clear a type or

display as the space will reasonably permit, using only sans serif print

fonts. Such type or display on the ballot shall satisfy all requirements

and standards set forth pursuant to the federal Help America Vote Act.

2. The names of parties or independent bodies which contain more than

fifteen letters may, whenever limitations of space so require, be

printed on the ballot in an abbreviated form. In printing the names of

candidates whose full names contain more than fifteen letters, only the

surname must be printed in full. The officer or board charged with the

duty of certifying the candidates for such office shall request each

such candidate to indicate, in writing, the shortened form in which,

subject to this restriction, his or her name shall be printed. If no

such indication is received from such candidate within the time

specified in the request, such officer or board shall make the necessary

determination.

3. (a) The party name or other designation shall be affixed to the

name of each candidate, or, in case of presidential electors, to the

names of the candidates for president and vice-president of such party.

(b) A column/row designating number may be affixed to the name of each

candidate, or in the case of presidential electors, to the names of the

candidates for president and vice-president of such party.

(c) The titles of offices may be arranged horizontally, with the names

of candidates for an office and the space, slot or device for write-in

votes for such office arranged vertically under the title of the office,

or the titles of offices may be arranged vertically, with the names of

candidates for an office and the space, slot or device for write-in

votes for such office arranged horizontally opposite the title of the

office.

(d) Each office shall occupy as many columns or rows on the ballot as

the number of candidates to be elected to that office, except where

candidate placements due to cross endorsements require additional

columns or rows.

4. (a) The names of all candidates nominated by any party or

independent body for an office shall always appear in the row or column

containing generally the names of candidates nominated by such party or

independent body for other offices except as hereinafter provided.

(b) When the same person has been nominated for an office to be filled

at the election by more than one party, the voting machine shall be so

adjusted that his or her name shall appear in each row or column

containing generally the names of candidates for other offices nominated

by any such party.

(c) If such candidate has also been nominated by one or more

independent bodies, his or her name shall appear only in each row or

column containing generally the names of candidates for other offices

nominated by any such party and the name of each such independent body

shall appear in one such row or column to be designated by the candidate

in a writing filed with the officer or board charged with the duty of

certifying the candidates for such office, or if such person shall fail

to so designate, the names of such independent bodies shall appear in

such row or column as such officer or board shall determine.

(d) If any person shall be nominated for any office by one party and

two or more independent bodies his or her name shall appear on the

ballot twice; once in the row or column containing generally the names

of candidates for other offices nominated by such party, and once in the

row or column containing generally the names of candidates nominated by

the independent body designated by such person in a writing filed with

the officer or board charged with the duty of certifying the candidates

for such office and in connection with the name of such person in such

row or column shall appear the name of each independent body nominating

him or her or, if such person shall fail to so designate, the name of

such candidate and the names of such independent bodies shall appear in

such row or column as such officer or board shall determine.

(e) If any person is nominated for any office only by more than one

independent bodies, his or her name shall appear but once upon the

machine in one such row or column to be designated by the candidate in a

writing filed with the officer or board charged with the duty of

providing ballots, or if the candidate shall fail to so designate, in

the place designated by the officer or board charged with the duty of

certifying the candidates for such office, and in connection with his or

her name there shall appear the name of each independent body nominating

him or her, but, where the capacity of the ballot will permit, the name

of such person shall not appear or be placed in a column or on a

horizontal line with the names of persons nominated by a party for other

offices.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision four of this section,

the name of a person who is nominated for the office of governor, or

state senator, or member of assembly, shall appear on the ballot as many

times as there are parties or independent bodies nominating him or her,

and there shall be a separate voting position at each place in which

such name shall appear.

6. If any type of machine used in any county or city contains any

feature approved by the state board of elections, the use of which is

neither required nor prohibited by the provisions of this chapter, the

board of elections may, by resolution, require that one or more of such

features shall be used in such county. Thereafter all machines of such

type used in such county or city shall be operated in conformity with

any such resolution. Any such resolution may thereafter be rescinded by

such board and after being so rescinded may be re-adopted. Once

re-adopted by any board of elections, such a resolution may not be

rescinded again by such board.

7. The ballot shall have printed upon it in black ink for each party

or independent row, at the head of the column or the beginning of the

row containing the names of candidates, the name of the party or

independent body and the designating letter of the row or column.

8. With respect to candidates for the offices of governor and

lieutenant governor of a party or independent body, ballots shall be

printed so that the names of such candidates for both offices shall

appear in the same row or column, with the name of the candidate for

governor appearing first and the ballot shall be so adjusted that both

offices are voted for jointly and have but one designating number if

such column/row designating numbers are utilized.

9. In those counties in which ballots are required by federal law, or

otherwise, to be provided in a language other than English, there shall

be versions of the ballot printed in English and in each of the

additional languages required so that each version of the ballot shall

contain English and no more than two other languages. The county board

of elections in such counties shall instruct, in their poll worker

training and materials, the procedures to be followed to ensure that

each voter receives a ballot with the appropriate language as determined

by the state board.

10. Each ballot shall contain instructions for marking the ballot. The

instructions shall be printed in line lengths no wider than five inches.

Ballot instructions may be printed on the front or back of the ballot or

on a separate sheet or card. If such instructions are not printed on the

front of the ballot, there shall be printed on the ballot, in the

largest size type practicable, the following legend: "See instructions

on the other side" or "See instructions (insert where instructions are

found)", whichever is appropriate.

11. (a) The offices appearing on all ballots shall be listed in the

order of precedence, as applicable to the offices up for election in any

given year, as follows: electors for president and vice-president of the

United States, governor and lieutenant governor, New York state

comptroller, New York state attorney general, United States senator,

member of the house of representatives, New York state senator, member

of the New York state assembly. Any office which is not listed in this

paragraph shall not appear on the ballot in a position before or ahead

of an office which is listed.

(b) Immediately following the offices in paragraph (a) of this

subdivision, all other offices shall be placed upon the ballot in the

customary order; provided, further, that partisan offices regardless of

the size of the constituency shall be listed before or ahead of

nonpartisan offices and all candidates for judicial offices shall follow

all other partisan offices.

12. If two or more candidates are nominated for the same office for

different terms, the term for which each is nominated shall be printed

as a part of the title of the office.

13. The text for ballot instructions shall be substantially as

follows, so that it accurately reflects the ballot layout:

INSTRUCTIONS

Mark the (insert "oval" or "square") to the left of the name of your

choice. (Provide illustration of correctly-marked voting position here.)

To vote for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot, (insert

"mark the oval (or square) to the left of 'write-in' and print the name

clearly" or "print the name clearly in the box labeled 'write-in'"),

staying within the box. Any mark or writing outside the spaces provided

for voting may void the entire ballot. The number of choices is listed

for each contest. Do not mark the ballot for more candidates than

allowed. If you do, your vote in that contest will not count. If you

make a mistake, or want to change your vote, ask a poll worker for a new

ballot.

14. The state board of elections shall provide line drawing

illustrations to supplement these instructions. At a minimum, an

illustration of the correct way to mark the ballot shall be provided,

but nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the board in

providing additional illustrations.

15. When a question or proposal is included on the ballot,

instructions substantially like the following shall be included:

Instructions for Voting on Questions and Proposals

To vote on a question or proposal, mark the (insert "oval" or "square")

to the (insert "left", "above" or "below") of your choice. If you make a

mistake, or want to change your vote, ask a poll worker for a new

ballot.

16. When a question or proposal appears on the back of the ballot,

there shall appear on the front of the ballot words or a symbol

indicating that the voter should turn over the ballot.

17. The voting oval or square shall be to the left of the name of the

candidate.

18. All text, including the name of each candidate as provided in

subdivision three of this section, shall be printed using standard

capitalization in accordance with instructions provided by the state

board of elections and shall not be printed using all capital letters.

19. The ballot shall use one font or font family with enough

variations for all text needs.

20. "Vote for one" or "Vote for up to ......" (the blank space to be

filled with the number of persons to be nominated for the office or

elected to the position), as applicable, shall be printed immediately

below each office title appearing on the ballot.

21. No party emblems shall be printed on the ballot.

22. The names of candidates for the same office shall appear on the

same page and in the same column or columns or row or rows of that page

of a printed ballot, and may not be separated by a perforation.

23. All text, including the title of each office and the name of each

candidate, shall be printed flush left and shall not be centered on the

ballot or in any column or row appearing on the ballot; provided

however, in a multi-column or multi-row contest, the title and number of

allowable selections to be made for each such office may be centered.

24. If used, shading shall be used consistently, so as to

differentiate instructions from ballot section dividers and contest

information.

25. Above, below, or to the right of the name of each candidate, shall

be printed, in less prominent type face than that in which the

candidate's name is printed, the name of the political party or

independent body by which the candidate was nominated or designated.

26. All paper ballots of the same kind for the same polling place

shall be identical.

27. To the extent practicable, the ballot shall also comply with the

following specifications:

(a) The instructions in subdivision ten of this section shall be

printed in the upper left hand corner of the front of the ballot;

(b) The name of each candidate shall be printed using a font size of

not less than nine points;

(c) When the instructions are contained on the ballot, there shall be

a clear delineation between the ballot instructions and the first office

or ballot question or proposal through the use of white space,

illustration, shading, color, font size, or bold type.