Responding to concerns and accusations about a fair process — or lack thereof — for the Sept. 22 special election for the town clerk position referendum, the DeWitt Town Board last week outlined how and by whom the election will be monitored and the votes counted and certified, and also addressed accusations that referendum information had been suppressed by the interim town clerk.
During the board’s Sept. 8 regular meeting, resident Peter Baskin asked the board why he could not find referendum information on the town website, particularly about obtaining an absentee ballot for the vote, and how the town will ensure a fair election if the county board of elections is not involved in the balloting and the person most directly affected by the vote — interim town clerk Angela Epolito, who will become the appointed town clerk if the appointment referendum passes — will be the one to certify the results.
Town Supervisor Ed Michalenko said there will be no absentee ballots allowed for the upcoming special election because town law does not allow it.
Town Attorney Tom Cerio explained after the meeting that Section 84A of town law, “Absentee ballots for special town elections and special provisions,” allows for absentee ballots in special elections only if personal registration is required of voters.
“That means that if we wanted to make provisions for personal registration, anyone who wanted to come vote would have to personally register at the town [before the election]. In an effort to not be excluding the masses of people, we’re not requiring people to come down and do that. As such we’re keeping it open,” Cerio said. “It just so happens that when you don’t do that requirement for personal registration before the election you can’t have an absentee ballot. It’s not meant to exclude anyone from voting.”
As for how the referendum balloting will be monitored and counted, Councilor Jack Dooling said a bipartisan group of 10 Voter Systems Specialists (VSS) and election inspectors — five Democrat and five Republican, all certified by the county board of election — will work in shifts during the 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. voting time; they will monitor the voting and print out the digital results at the end of the night.
“No partisan person will be standing there opening the machines — they’re VSS,” Dooling said. Dooling also named all 10 election monitors at Baskin’s request.
According to election law, because this is a special election, and not occurring on the same day as a general election, the town of DeWitt is the municipal entity that will oversee the election, not the county board of elections. “But that doesn’t mean they’re not involved,” Cerio said. The county board of elections is providing the machines, ballots, voter lists and personnel. “They’re just not overseeing operation of the actual election, which makes it a town function,” he said.
Officials at the Onondaga County Board of Elections verified that the election is a town function and that the county board is not the lead agency. They also said that the use of absentee ballots is dictated by town law and that the town clerk is typically the person who will certify the election results.
“There’s certainly nothing wrong with Angela certifying the election — she is the town clerk — but for the appearance of propriety I think we’ll have someone else certify it, although I’m not sure who yet,” Cerio said. “I think we’d be better served.”
Also during the Sept. 8 meeting, Baskin told the board that for 42 days — from July 23 until Sept. 3 — there was “no mention” of the upcoming referendum on the town website and said he questions Epolito’s “competence” and “honesty.”
“I do think that the person who was going to be most affected by the town clerk referendum suppressed that information,” Baskin said after the meeting.
Michalenko said Baskin’s accusations were “not accurate” and that the information was on the website, although it was listed as a “special election” under the town news section, and not as a “referendum.”
Epolito said she posted the early referendum information on July 25 and the official public hearing notice on July 29. She admitted that she forgot to post the information on the website calendar page and only put it on the news page.
The referendum notice was published in the town’s official newspapers and posted on the sign board at town hall, both of which are required by law.
Cerio pointed out that there is “no legal requirement” for the special election information to be posted on the town website, only that it be published in the newspaper and on the town hall sign board.
“By putting on [the news page] and maybe using the wrong term [special election instead of referendum] no one was trying to mislead anyone,” Cerio said.
Michalenko agreed, saying, “Our personal take is that the more people we can get out to vote is in our best interests to get greater participation.”
Polls will be open for the special election referendum vote from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the DeWitt Town Hall, 5400 Butternut Drive, East Syracuse.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Eagle Bulletin. He can be reached at [email protected] or at 434-8889 ext. 335.
