NY S06740

Amends election law to require liberal construction of petition rules to protect candidates' right to run for office and voters' right to elect candidates of their choice.

Prohibits objections to petitions based on voter or witness addresses if the person and address are reasonably ascertainable by the officer or board.

Invalidates objections based solely on voters or witnesses writing village, hamlet, or census-designated place names instead of city or town names; applies same rule to NYC boroughs versus counties.

Prevents petitions from being rejected due to pagination errors, misstatements of signature counts on cover sheets or witness statements, or minor inaccuracies in the stated public office if a reasonable voter would not be confused.

Allows only voter signatures dated after the witness statement date to be invalidated if the witness statement date is earlier than some voter signatures, and permits rejection only if the petition fails to meet the minimum signature requirement.