Justice Francesca Connolly
In this Election Law §16-102 action to invalidate a petition designating Reeves as a candidate for City Council President in Yonkers, petitioners alleged fraud, and raised objections to signatures on the designating petition. Reeves sought dismissal arguing she was not served in accordance with an order to show cause (OSC) which allowed service by overnight, next-day delivery on or before July 22, 2013. Petitioners claimed they timely sent mail via the US Postal Service (USPS) by express mail, but realized it was an incomplete set of papers, and sent a complete package the same night via a USPS overnight express mail drop box. The court noted the dispositive issue was not the method of service specified by the OSC, but timely and strict compliance with that method of service. It was satisfied petitioners used an overnight delivery service, yet they failed to establish that placing a prepaid Express Mail envelope in a designated slot for "all mail" at a post office at 9:30 p.m., after the service counter was closed, would result in overnight, next day delivery, as required by the OSC. Thus, petitioners' failure to establish that service was timely effectuated on Reeves in the manner specified in the OSC constituted a jurisdictional defect, dismissing the petition.
