54 A.D.2d 1108 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1976
Order unanimously affirmed, with costs to petitioner. Memorandum: These four companion cases are appeals by appellant Onondaga County Board of Elections from orders of Special Term, Supreme Court, Onondaga County, directing that the respondents, college students living in Syracuse, New York, be registered to vote in the election district in which they reside. The respondents attempted to register by mail in their respective election districts as authorized by section 153 of the Election Law. Since they were students, the respondents were required (Election Law, § 151) to complete and sign questionnaires eliciting information necessary for a determination by the board of whether the respondents were "residents” within the meaning of sections 150 and 151 of the Election Law. The board denied each respondent registration, giving no reasons for the denial except for the terse conclusory statement, "Pursuant to Section 151 of the Election Law, you are not a resident of this county.” The respondents petitioned pursuant to section 331 of the Election Law to review the determination by the Board of Elections and to consider the constitutionality of section 151 of the Election Law. After conducting a hearing on the matter, Special Term ordered that the respondents be registered. The court declined to consider the constitutional question. We affirm the orders of Special Term. Section 171 of the Election Law requires that when the qualifications of an applicant for registration are challenged by the Board of Elections, challenge affidavits prescribed in section 172 shall be administered to the applicant. The purpose of the challenge affidavit is to enable the board to make an informed judgment of the applicant’s qualifications. Although the board in this case did not administer challenge affidavits, the affidavits that were administered by the board pursuant to section 151 were sufficiently broad in their scope so as to constitute substantial compliance with statutory procedure (Palla v Suffolk County Bd. of Elections, 31 NY2d 36). The board, however, has failed to provide respondents with reasons for the denial of registration as statutorily required (Election Law, § 153, subds 8, 11). With