S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8465
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 3, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  LIU  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to directing that the  use
   of a candidate's alternate, familiar or anglicized name is permissible
   on electoral nominating petitions and ballots
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. Recently, two Muslim women running  for
 elected  office in the borough of Queens, city of New York, were removed
 from the ballot by the Board of Elections because the names they used on
 their designating petitions did not match their registered  voter  name.
 Furthermore,  the  board argued that the candidate's names were invalid,
 as they were not a diminutive or familiar derivative of their registered
 names.
   This decision by the Board of Elections does not  give  due  consider-
 ation  to  cultural  and  ethnic  practices  surrounding naming and name
 usage. Many people with ethnically traditional names unfamiliar  to  the
 general population adopt an alternate or anglicized name which is easier
 to  remember  or  pronounce.  They should not be penalized for doing so,
 even when the alternate name is not easily perceived to  be  or  is  not
 derived from the person's legal name.
   The  New  York  courts have repeatedly found that the use of alternate
 names acceptable, so long as the  name  has  been  established  in  that
 community  and  the  voters are not misled by the use of the name. As is
 noted in the New York State Board of Elections Election Law Update Manu-
 al of 2019, wherein it is written "The name that a candidate uses on his
 or her petition is the name that will appear on the ballot (Election Law
 § 7-102). A candidate may be put on the petition and ballot under a name
 he or she has adopted in good faith and by which he or she is recognized
 in the community (In re Steel, 186 Misc  98  (Sup  Ct  New  York  County
 1946), aff'd 270 AD 806 [1946])".
   The legislature finds and declares that it is in the best interests of
 the people of the state to clarify that the use of alternate, anglicized
 or  familiar  names  on  election  petitions  and  ballots is acceptable
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16316-04-0

 S. 8465                             2
 
 provided that such name is demonstrated to be commonly used to  identify
 that  person  in the person's community and that the use of such name is
 not intended to mislead voters or petition signers.
   § 2. The election law is amended by adding a new section 6-112 to read
 as follows:
   § 6-112. DEFINITION. FOR THE PURPOSES OF DESIGNATION AND NOMINATION OF
 CANDIDATES PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE AND THE INCLUSION OF NAMES OF CANDI-
 DATES  ON  BALLOTS  PURSUANT  TO  ARTICLE  SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER, "NAME"
 INCLUDES A CANDIDATE'S ALTERNATE, ANGLICIZED OR FAMILIAR NAME,  PROVIDED
 THAT  SUCH  NAME  IS  DEMONSTRATED  TO  BE COMMONLY USED TO IDENTIFY THE
 CANDIDATE IN THE CANDIDATE'S COMMUNITY AND THAT THE USE OF SUCH NAME  IS
 NOT INTENDED TO MISLEAD VOTERS OR PETITION SIGNERS.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.