* § 2-122-b. Presidential primary. 1. Applicability. The selection of delegates and alternate delegates from New York state to the national convention of the Republican party in each year in which electors of president and vice-president of the United States are to be elected shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of this section. The state committee of any other political party may, by rule or resolution, opt to conduct the selection of delegates and alternate delegates in any such year in accordance with the provisions of this section. A certified copy of such rule or resolution shall be filed with the state board of elections no later than twenty weeks prior to the date of such election.

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2. General provisions. The awarding of delegates and alternate delegates to a national convention or conference of a political party pursuant to this section shall be determined by the votes cast at a statewide primary election for candidates for the office of president of the United States in which the names of candidates for such office appear on the ballot and the names of delegates and alternate delegates do not appear on such ballot. The total number of delegates and alternate delegates shall be determined by the call for the national convention. Three delegates and three alternate delegates shall be awarded from every congressional district in the state, unless the rules of the national Republican party and/or the call for the national convention provide differently. The total number of delegates and alternate delegates as established by the call for the national convention minus the number of delegates and alternate delegates to be awarded from the congressional districts shall be designated at-large delegates and at-large alternate delegates.

A political party shall certify to the state board of elections, at least sixteen weeks prior to the date of the presidential primary, the number of delegates to which such party is entitled pursuant to its rules.

Congressional district delegates and alternate delegates shall be awarded based upon the results of separate and distinct primary elections held within each congressional district of the state. Congressional district delegates and alternate delegates shall be awarded to presidential candidates pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision four of this section and elected pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision four of this section. At-large delegates and alternate delegates shall be elected by the state committee and allocated to presidential candidates pursuant to subdivision five of this section.

3. Ballot access methods. Candidates shall be eligible to appear on the ballot in a primary election of a political party for the office of president of the United States pursuant to any of the following provisions:

a. Any candidate who has been certified as eligible to receive presidential primary matching fund payments pursuant to the provisions of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 9033, or any candidate who meets the eligibility criteria regarding matchable contributions established in Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 9033.2(b)(3) regardless of whether such candidate actually applied for such matching fund payments, may request, by certificate filed and received by the state board of elections no sooner than sixteen weeks and not later than nine weeks prior to the date of the presidential primary, that the name of such candidate appear on the ballot at the primary of such party in the state of New York for that year.

b. Any candidate may request, by certificate filed and received by the state board of elections no sooner than sixteen weeks and not later than nine weeks prior to the date of the presidential primary, that the name of such candidate appear on the ballot at the primary of such party in the state of New York for the office of president of the United States. Such candidate shall be eligible to appear on the ballot of such party in the state of New York at the primary election for that year if the state board of elections determines that the person is a nationally known and recognized candidate and the candidacy of such person for the party nomination for president is generally and seriously advocated or recognized according to reports in the national or state news media. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law to the contrary, a request by a candidate to appear on the presidential primary ballot of a major political party shall be determined solely upon a joint recommendation by the commissioners of the state board of elections who have been appointed on the recommendation of such political party or the legislative leaders of such political party, and no other commissioner of the state board of elections shall participate in such determination. The state board of elections shall act upon any such request no later than fifty-six days before the presidential primary.

c. Any candidate shall be eligible to appear on the ballot pursuant to the provisions of article six of this chapter. Designating petitions shall be signed by not less than five thousand or five percent, whichever is less, of the then enrolled voters of the party in the state.

d. Presidential candidates determined eligible to appear on the primary ballot may have their name removed from such primary ballot by filing a certificate with the state board of elections and received no later than fifty-six days before such primary election. After such date but before the seventh day before the primary, presidential candidates may file a certificate with the state board of elections deeming any vote for such presidential candidate to be a void vote.

4. Election of delegates and alternate delegates from congressional districts. a. Each congressional district shall conduct a separate and distinct primary election. Enrolled Republican voters from a congressional district shall vote for a presidential candidate who has qualified for the primary ballot pursuant to subdivision three of this section.

b. All three delegates and all three alternate delegates from a congressional district shall be awarded to a presidential candidate who receives a majority of the total votes cast for presidential candidates in such congressional district. If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the votes in a congressional district, the presidential candidate receiving the most votes in the congressional district shall be awarded two delegates and two alternate delegates and the presidential candidate who receives the second most votes in the congressional district shall be awarded one delegate and one alternate delegate, provided however, that a presidential candidate must receive at least twenty percent of the total votes cast for presidential candidates in the congressional district in order to be awarded any delegates and alternate delegates from that congressional district. If only one presidential candidate receives twenty percent or more of the total votes cast for presidential candidates in a congressional district, such presidential candidate shall be awarded all three delegates and all three alternate delegates. If no presidential candidate receives twenty percent or more of the total votes cast for presidential candidates in a congressional district, the three delegate and three alternate delegate positions from such district shall be deemed vacant and filled pursuant to the rules of the national Republican party.

c. All congressional district delegates and alternate delegates shall be elected by the members of the New York Republican state committee representing each such congressional district and awarded to presidential candidates pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision. The congressional district delegates and alternate delegates shall be elected by the members of the New York Republican state committee representing each such congressional district at meetings called by the state chairman and scheduled in compliance with Rules 16 and 20 of the Rules of the Republican Party (National) but, if practicable, following the certification of the results of the presidential primary by the New York state board of elections. The notices of call issued by the state chairman shall designate New York Republican state committee members to serve as chairs and secretaries of the congressional district meetings. At these congressional district meetings, the members of the New York Republican state committee shall each cast votes equal to the Republican enrollment for their unit of representation that is within the congressional district. Voting by proxy at the congressional district meeting shall be valid. The chair and secretary of each congressional district meeting shall file a certificate with the New York state board of elections stating the names and addresses of the individuals elected as congressional district delegates and alternate delegates within five days of the meeting.

5. Election of at-large delegates and at-large alternate delegates. At-large delegates and at-large alternate delegates shall be selected by the New York Republican state committee and awarded to presidential candidates based upon the statewide vote results of the presidential primary election. All at-large delegates and at-large alternate delegates shall be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives a majority of the statewide total votes cast for presidential candidates. If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the statewide total votes cast for presidential candidates, at-large delegates and at-large alternate delegates shall be allocated and awarded as follows: based on the ratio of the total statewide vote received by each presidential candidate in relation to the total statewide vote for all presidential candidates receiving at least twenty percent of the statewide vote in the presidential primary election, the New York Republican state committee shall apportion pro-rata the number of at-large delegates and at-large alternate delegates that each presidential candidate is entitled to receive rounded to the nearest whole number: provided however, that a presidential candidate must receive at least twenty percent of the total statewide vote of the presidential primary election in order to be awarded any at-large delegates by the New York Republican state committee. In the event the pro-rata apportionment of delegates leaves one or more delegates unawarded by process of mathematical distribution, then any such delegate or delegates, shall be awarded to the presidential candidate with the most statewide votes for all presidential candidates. In the event pro-rata apportionment entitles presidential candidates by process of mathematical distribution to more delegates than are authorized pursuant to the rules of the national Republican party and the call for the national convention, then the number of delegates awarded for the candidate receiving the least statewide votes among those presidential candidates otherwise entitled to be awarded delegates, shall be decreased to the extent necessary to conform to the number of authorized delegate positions.

6. All provisions of this chapter which are not inconsistent with this section shall be applicable to a primary election conducted pursuant to this section.

* NB Repealed December 31, 2024