The Ramapo Special Election Tuesday turned out to be the controversial thriller many thought it would be.
There were pro-ward robo calls and reported anti-ward calls from people impersonating Rockland County Board of Election officials.
RAMAPO ELECTION: Judge has impounded #Ramapo special election ballots. Did you expect voting irregularities? http://t.co/cODLniYhRW
— News12HV (@News12HV) October 1, 2014
A Monday morning pre-election expansion of the voter pool eligible to cast ballots in the election created a flurry of legal maneuvering that resulted in New York Supreme Court Justice Margaret Garvey ordering the town to impound all the votes after the polls closed Tuesday night.
Rockland Cty Exec Ed Day calls on DA Tom Zugibe to consider investigating Ramapo referendum vote, citing claims of fraud and improprieties.
— Steve Lieberman (@LoHudLegal) October 1, 2014
The Journal News reporter Akiko Matsuda and legal writer Steve Lieberman reported in LoHud that the outcome of the ward/council member vote may not be finalized and available until perhaps Saturday, October 11. According to their LoHud report, Town of Ramapo Attorney Michael Klein said that Justice Margaret Garvey ordered the town to impound all the votes after the polls closed Tuesday as there are some major differences on the ground rules of the Special Election.
Reports of impersonations and fraud in Ramapo referendum must be investigated. The public needs to be confident in elections.
— Ken Zebrowski (@kenzebrowski_ny) October 1, 2014
The particulars are rooted in the deadline to count absentee votes and the Town allowing unregistered voters to vote on the referendums. Michael Parietti and Robert Romanowski filed a petition challenging the town’s Monday morning decision to significantly widen the voter pool by letting “people vote if they are U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old and can prove residency, even though they are not registered voters.”
Absentee ballots are typically counted if post-marked by a specific date, normally the day before the particular election takes place. Ramapo Town Clerk Christian Sampson, who’s office is administrator of the Special Election, announced that absentee ballots would only count if the arrived before 5 p.m. at the Town Clerk’s office.
Time to do what’s best for the taxpayers of Suffern. http://t.co/9cfZ8m1WCj
— Rockland Star (@RocklandStar) October 1, 2014
Ramapo Attorney Klein said in the LoHud report that Justice Garvey “told Ramapo to count the absentee ballots that arrived within seven days after the election if they are postmarked by the day before the election.”
Justice Garvey also ordered the town to send all election documents and results to the Rockland County Board of elections where she will make a determination on the petitions before the court before any referendum results are released.
