Matter of Frome v. Bd. of Elections of Nassau Cnty., 440 N.E.2d 1325 (NY 1982). · Go Syfert
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Matter of Frome v. Bd. of Elections of Nassau Cnty., 440 N.E.2d 1325 (NY 1982). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
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cited 3× by 1 distinct case · …the residence address at which the voter claims to reside and post office address, if not the same at p. 742 ⚠ not in text
31 citation events (12 in the last 25 years) across 3 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: Matter of Schultz v. Nassau County Bd. of Elections (nyappdiv, 2026-05-14)
Treatment trajectory · 1982 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1982 2004 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 7 distinct citers. How cited ↗
examined Cited as authority (rule) Matter of Schultz v. Nassau County Bd. of Elections (3×)
N.Y. App. Div. · 2026 · confidence medium
The Court of Appeals has held that the designation of the "city or town," because it is a matter of legislatively mandated content, is a matter of substance and not form, and thus, a failure to include such information is fatal to the petition ( Matter of Frome v Board of Elections of Nassau County , 57 NY2d 741, 742 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Matter of Stoppenbach v Sweeney , 98 NY2d 431, 433).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Kepert v. Tullo
N.Y. App. Div. · 2011 · confidence medium
Thus, because the stating of the number of signatures witnessed “is a matter of the legislatively mandated content of the [designating] petition, i.e., a matter of substance and not of form . . . [failure] to include the prescribed information is fatal” (Matter of Frome v Board of Elections of Nassau County, 57 NY2d 741, 742 [1982]; see generally Matter of Stoppenbach v Sweeney, 98 NY2d 431, 433 [2002]; Matter of DiSanzo v Addabbo, 76 AD3d 655 , 656 [2010]; Matter of Barrett v Brodsky, 196 AD2d 603, 603 [1993]; Matter of De Masi v D'Apice, 97 AD2d 526 [1983]; cf. Matter of Dos Anjos v Carv…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) MTR OF STOPPENBACH v. Sweeney
NY · 2002 · confidence medium
We adhere to our precedent in Matter of Frome v Board of Elections of Nassau County ( 57 NY2d 741, 742-743 [1982]; see also Matter of Zobel v New York State Bd. of Elections, 254 AD2d 520 [1998]) that compliance with the statute is required, as it constitutes a matter of substance and not of form.
discussed Cited "see" Matter of Wymczak v. Niagara County Bd. of Elections
N.Y. App. Div. · 2025 · signal: see · confidence high
Election Law § 6-130 provides that "[t]he sheets of a designating petition must set forth in every instance the name of the signer, [their] residence address, town or city . . . , and the date when the signature is affixed." Where a signer does not "accurately set forth the town," that person's signature will be invalidated, because "compliance with the statute . . . constitutes a matter of substance and not of form" ( Matter of Stoppenbach v Sweeney , 98 NY2d 431, 433 [2002]; see Matter of Frome v Board of Elections of Nassau County , 57 NY2d 741, 742-743 [1982]; Matter of Ptak v Erie County…
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Ligammari v. Norris
N.Y. App. Div. · 2000 · signal: see also · confidence low
In addition, the court properly invalidated the signatures that did not comply with the town/city designation requirement (see, D’Amico v Mahoney, 115 AD2d 348 ; Matter of Scamacca v Mahoney, 104 AD2d 730 ; see also, Matter of Frome v Board of Elections, 57 NY2d 741, 742 ).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Scamacca v. Mahoney
N.Y. App. Div. · 1984 · signal: see also · confidence low
The failure of the signers to provide the “town or city” of residence is a fatal defect and renders the designating petition invalid {Matter of McKeever v Hornidge, 306 NY 876 ; see, also, Matter of Frome v Board of Elections, 57 NY2d 741, 742 ; Matter of Hutson v Bass, 54 NY2d 772 ; Matter of Higby v Mahoney, 48 NY2d 15 ).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Rhodes v. Salerno
N.Y. App. Div. · 1982 · signal: see also · confidence low
In view of the clear mandate of the statute and the obvious purpose of the acknowledgment requirement, which is to prevent a fraudulent acceptance of declination of a nomination, we reject petitioner’s contention that the requirement is a matter of mere form and conclude that it comprises an element of prescribed content and thus must be strictly complied with (Matter of Hutson v Bass, supra; see, also, Matter of Frame v Board of Elections of Nassau County, 57 NY2d 741 ; Matter of Alamo v Black, 51 NY2d 716 ).
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
In the Matter of Steven J. Frome Et Al., Appellants,
v.
Board of Elections of Nassau County Et Al., Respondents
New York Court of Appeals.
Sep 10, 1982.
440 N.E.2d 1325
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL, Pamela Schwartz Frome for appellants., Edward G. McCabe, County Attorney (Arthur Eiberson of counsel), for Board of Elections of Nassau County, respondent., Steven R. Schlesinger for Allan L. Winick and others, respondents.
Cooke and Judges Jasen, Jones, Fuchsberg, Sweeney.
Cited by 24 opinions  |  Published

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, without costs, and the case remitted to Supreme Court for its consideration of the application of respondents in our court for a direction to the board of elections to provide the enrolled Democratic voters in Nassau County an opportunity to write in the names of candidates for the offices at issue (cf. Matter of Brown v Ulster County Bd. of Elections, 48 NY2d 614).

The designation of the “city or town” in the statement of a witness to a designating petition is a matter of the legislatively mandated content of the petition, i.e., a matter of substance and not of form. It follows then that omission to include the prescribed information is fatal[*743] (Matter of Hutson v Bass, 54 NY2d 772; Matter of Alamo v Black, 51 NY2d 716; Matter of Higby v Mahoney, 48 NY2d 15).

Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Jones, Fuchs-berg, Sweeney* and Kane * concur; Judges Gabrielli, Wachtler and Meyer taking no part.

Order reversed, without costs, designating petitions invalidated and matter remitted to Supreme Court, Nassau County, for further proceedings in accordance with the memorandum herein.

*

Designated pursuant to section 2 of article VI of the State Constitution.