Toigo v. Columbia County Bd. of Elections

• Decision Date: 11 October 1966
• Citation: 51 Misc.2d 754,273 N.Y.S.2d 781
• Parties: Application of Dr. Romolo TOIGO, Ph. D., as Democratic candidate for the office of Coroner of Columbia County, Petitioner, v. The COLUMBIA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS and Donald Tkacy, Respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court

Page 781

273 N.Y.S.2d 781

51 Misc.2d 754

Application of Dr. Romolo TOIGO, Ph. D., as Democratic candidate for the office of Coroner of Columbia County, Petitioner, v. The COLUMBIA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS and Donald Tkacy, Respondents.

Supreme Court, Columbia County, Special Term, Greene County.

Oct. 11, 1966.

Hegeman & Toigo, Chatham (Alan Hegeman, Chatham, of counsel), for petitioner, in support of proceeding.

Abram Miner, County Atty., Columbia County, Hudson, for respondent Board of Elections, in opposition.

Donald Tkacy, in pro. per.

LAWRENCE H. COOKE, Justice.

A certificate of nomination was filed listing 'Dr. Romolo Toigo, Ph. D.' as the Democratic candidate for the office of Coroner in Columbia County and, upon oral objection by the Republican candidate, respondent Board of Elections removed the title 'Dr.' and the degree 'Ph. D.' before and after petitioner's name as it will appear on the official ballots at the general election. This proceeding under section 330 of the Election Law is instituted to compel said Board 'to place the name of the petitioner upon the printed ballot in the manner and form (as) said name appears' in said certificate.

Except as to certain elections of school and fire district officers, official ballots shall be provided at public expense for every election at which public officers are to be elected directly by the people (Election Law, § 100), the Board of Elections of Columbia County being required to furnish the necessary number of official ballots for each polling place at a general election in said County (Election Law, §§ 91, 93, 101, and 104). Ballots for general officers shall contain the names of all candidates except presidential electors; a different, but in each case uniform, kind of type shall be used for printing the names of candidates, the titles of offices and political designations; each such ballot shall be printed in sections on which the candidates' names, emblems and political designations, with the voting squares, and other requisite matter shall be boxed in by heavy black lines; and in printing the names of candidates whose full names contain sixteen letters or more not more than one name other than the surname shall be printed in full, and each candidate may indicate in writing to the officer or officers charged with the duty of preparing the ballots the form in which, subject to this restriction, his name shall be printed (Election Law, § 102, subds. 1, 2, 5, 9). The word 'name', as used in the Election Law providing for the designation of candidates on official ballots, should be taken in its plain, ordinary, and usual sense (26 Am.Jur.2d, Elections, § 218). A person's name is the designation by which he is distinctively known in the community (Mtr. of Jeffery v. Trustees of Vil. of Clinton, 23 Misc.2d 707, 712, 198 N.Y.S.2d 966, 972; Matter of Cohen, 142 Misc. 852, 255 N.Y.S. 616). It does not include a professional title or an academic degree and the statutes contain neither the right nor the authority to set forth same in an official ballot.

Ordinarily and where there is not such a similarity of names as to confuse the electors, it is impermissible to place on an official ballot a characterization or designation before or after a candidate's name (State ex rel. Rainey v. Crowe, Mo.App., 382 S.W.2d 38; State ex rel. Whetsel v. Murphy, 122 Ohio St. 620, 174 N.E. 252; 26 Am.Jur.2d, Elections, § 218; 29 C.J.S. Elections § 161, p. 465).

The ultimate test of fairness is that the ballot furnish to each elector a reasonable opportunity to express his choice, as where all the names are printed in...