Amedure v. State

Ruled that Election Law § 9–209 (2) (g), which provides that if the members of a bipartisan local board charged with reviewing ballots are split as to a ballot’s validity, the ballot shall be cast and canvassed, did not violate the equal representation mandate set forth in article II, section 8 of the New York Constitution and principles of judicial review and separation of powers. Plaintiffs’ arguments failed under the plain text of article II, section 8, because the authority that Election Law § 9–209 vests in a two-member Board is equally distributed to each member. Further, the history of the provision, adopted at the 1894 constitutional convention, reflected an understanding that bipartisan unanimity was not required for election boards to take action. The statute also did not violate separation of powers and judicial review principles because it contains multiple pathways for judicial review.