Petitioner Ola Hawatmeh brings this special proceeding pursuant to Election Law §16-102 (1), CPLR article 78 and CPLR 3001, seeking an order validating her designation as a candidate of the Conservative Party for the public office of member of the United States House of Representatives, 19th Congressional District of New York (“Office”). Respondents James Goblet, Benjamin Cooper and Michael Marmorato, who filed objections to petitioner’s designating petition, oppose the requested relief. Respondent New York State Board of Elections (“SBOE”) has appeared in response to the Petition but takes no position on the merits. BACKGROUND On March 14, 2020, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo responded to a global pandemic by altering the requirements for candidates to qualify for New York’s June 23, 2020 primary ballot. As is relevant here, the Governor modified the application of Election Law article 6, which governs the designation of candidates for public office, by (1) reducing the number of signatures required to obtain ballot access and (2) suspending the collection of signatures as of 5 p.m. on March 17, 2020 (see Executive Order [Cuomo] No. 202.2 ["EO 202.2"]). Prior to the Governor’s order, candidates had until April 2, 2020 to collect signatures and file their designating petitions (see Election Law §6-158 [1]). On March 18, 2020, the Legislature enacted, and the Governor approved, a law requiring candidates to file their designating petitions no later than March 20, 2020 (see L 2020, ch 24 ["Chapter 24"], §1). Chapter 24 further provided that “the political calendar with respect to objections, acceptances, authorizations, declinations, substitutions and the last day to commence an election law article 16 proceeding shall be adjusted accordingly” (id.). Petitioner alleges that a petition designating her as a Conservative Party candidate for the Office was timely filed with the SBOE (see NYSCEF Doc Nos. 1, 5 ["Petition"], 8) and that the petition is “proper, sufficient and otherwise compliant with the Election Law” (id., 10). Respondents James Goblet, Benjamin Cooper and Michael Marmorato (collectively, “Objectors”) filed general and specific objections to the designating petition (see id., 12). On April 27, 2020, the SBOE determined that the designating petition is invalid because petitioner failed to file a certificate of acceptance by March 24, 2020 (see id., 13), the fourth day following the new deadline for the filing of petitions (see Election Law §6-158 [2]; see also NYSCEF Doc No. 11). Petitioner explains that her certificate of acceptance would have been timely under the original political calendar published by the SBOE (see Petition, 21), and her late acceptance was “occasioned by a last minute change in the statute by the Legislature which significantly shortened the time within which to file petitions, authorizations and acceptances” (id., 22). Petitioner further alleges that, “[d]uring the relevant time, [she] was absent from New York getting Medical treatment in St. Louis” (id., 23). “Petitioner did return to New York and did file an acceptance when she was belatedly informed of the new filing schedule that had been enacted just days earlier, and which had not been published by the [SBOE] on [its] web site until after the fact” (id., 24). Petitioner maintains that her failure to timely accept the designation “was directly related to the current pandemic and the revision of statute that followed. It is no fault of the Petitioner” (id., 26). According to petitioner, “in light of the pandemic and related circumstances, the Courts of this state have validated late filings under similar circumstances” (id., 27). Petitioner further alleges that the Petition implicates the constitutionality of Chapter 24, insofar as the new statute operates to deprive “Petitioner of her rights to free speech and association under the New York State Constitution” (id.,
28-29). Petitioner commenced the instant validation proceeding on April 30, 2020, the last day to do so (see Election Law §16-102 [2]), and the Petition was made returnable on May 4, 2020. The SBOE responded to the Petition by producing the pertinent election records. The Objectors appeared through counsel on the return of the Petition to orally oppose the application on the ground that petitioner’s failure to timely file her certificate of acceptance constitutes a fatal defect. At the conclusion of oral argument, and with the consent of all counsel, the Court granted petitioner leave to submit: (1) an affidavit amplifying the allegations of paragraphs 22 and 23 of the Petition; and (2) case law supporting the requested relief.1 These submissions were filed on or about May 5, 2020, and this Decision, Order & Judgment follows. ANALYSIS A. Untimeliness of Petitioner’s Filing Election Law §6-158 (1) provides, in relevant part, that “[a] designating petition shall be filed…not later than the twelfth Thursday preceding the primary election.” “A certificate of acceptance…of a designation shall be filed not later than the fourth day after the last day to file such designation” (id., [2]). Thus, the political calendar for 2020 originally contemplated that designating petitions for the June 23, 2020 primary election would be filed by April 2, 2020, and certificates evidencing the acceptance of such designations would be filed by April 6, 2020. As a result of the modifications and amendments of the Election Law effected by EO 202.2 and Chapter 24, the deadline for filing designating petitions was accelerated to March 20, 2020, thereby making March 24, 2020 the last day to file a certificate of acceptance. The record shows that a petition purporting to designate petitioner as a Conservative Party candidate for the Office timely was filed with the SBOE on March 20, 2020 (see NYSCEF Doc No. 8), and the Conservative Party timely authorized petitioner’s candidacy on March 23, 2020 (see NYSCEF Doc No. 9; see also Election Law §6-120 [3]). Petitioner then accepted the designation by executing an acknowledged certificate of acceptance (“Certificate”) on March 24, 2020 (see NYSCEF Doc No. 10). The Certificate was mailed for overnight delivery via Priority Mail Express on March 25, 2020 and was received by the SBOE on March 26, 2020 (see id.). Election Law §6-158 (2), as amended and modified in response to the COVID-19 emergency, required petitioner to file her Certificate by March 24, 2020. Petitioner did, in fact, execute the Certificate on March 24, 2020, but it was not mailed to the SBOE until March 25, 2020. Further, since the Certificate was not “sent by mail in an envelope postmarked prior to midnight of the last day of filing,” petitioner cannot avail herself of the statutory provision that deems papers to be “timely filed…if sent by mail or overnight delivery service…and received no later than two business days after the last day to file” (Election Law §1-106 [1]). The Court therefore concludes that the Certificate was not timely filed, which constitutes a fatal defect under the plain language of Election Law §1-106 (2). B. The Equities Petitioner contends that the Court should exercise its equitable powers to deem her Certificate timely filed. In this regard, she cites the fact that she was in St. Louis receiving medical treatment from March 14, 2020 to March 24, 2020 (see NYSCEF Doc No. 18 ["Hawatmeh Aff."],
