By Danny Teigman
to determine the positions of its three parties, bringing local election law in line with state guidelines.
Candidates were assigned row placements by numbers drawn from a box. For the March 20 village elections, the New Vision Party will be listed on Row A, the Lynbrook Reform Party on Row B and the Independent Party on Row C. For future elections, other selection methods may include having candidates draw from a deck of cards or allowing the party that files its application first to choose its row on the ballot.
For much of the past four decades, the Lynbrook Independent Party has dominated local politics, and been a fixture on Row A. Some have raised concerns that by being listed on top for so long, the party has an unfair influence on voters who are less likely to scan the ballot for other candidates.
Lee Daghlian, a spokesman for the New York State Board of Elections, said that villages in which administrators are charged with organizing and overseeing elections have some latitude when creating local election law. Lynbrook's unwritten precedent, however, was not the correct approach.
"Some people obviously feel that putting the incumbent [party] first is not fair," Daghlian said. "We think the fairest way to do it is to draw lots. ... Just saying, 'That's the way we've always done it' doesn't satisfy some people."
He added, "It's always been a tenet of politicians: get the first line if you can."
Village Trustees Tom Miccio and Richard Clifford, who are not running for re-election, said that while they did not attend the ballot meeting, they heard that it was more complicated than it might have been. "The way it was described to me was that it was supposed to take five minutes but it took an hour," Miccio said. "It seems that this is something that should have been straightforward."
Mayoral candidate and current Trustee David Penso said that Reform Party President Chris Monzert wrote a letter to Village Administrator John Giordano on Jan. 16 requesting that the ballot placement be determined by a random drawing. Two days later, Penso said, Giordano responded, confirming that a drawing for candidates would be held.
According to Penso, however, there was an attempt shortly before the drawing to keep the Independent Party on Row A while the two other parties drew lots for rows B and C. But on Feb. 14, Giordano denied a request by the Lynbrook Independent Party that it be given Row A.
Penso also asserted that Village Attorney Peter Ledwith said the Reform Party's request for a random drawing was invalid, citing a state requirement that requests to alter the ballot procedure must be made within 48 hours after a village's party filing deadline. Yet Lynbrook's filing date was Feb. 15, and Giordano had received the Reform Party's request a month earlier, Penso said.
"Mr. Ledwith may have been citing a legal statute that none of us had received up to that point," Penso said. "But the point is that Mr. Giordano, in the letter from [January] 18th, said that there would be a drawing on [February] 20th. ... Now we have a random ballot and to the winner goes the spoils."
Giordano, who could neither confirm nor deny Penso's charge of an attempted last-minute change, said his intention had always been to have the three parties choose their row positions by lottery.
Giordano, who has previously worked as Village Administrator in Farmingdale said, "I've been doing drawings for 25 years; this is nothing new to me.... It proves the objectiveness of this office."
Mayor Eugene Scarpato said he and the Independent Party were unaffected by the procedural change. "That's the way it is, and we accept it," Scarpato said.
"Personally, I don't see what the problem is," added Clifford. "I think the merits of the candidates will speak for themselves. I don't think positions on a ballot matters if you've proven your worth to the public."
Comments about this story? DTeigman@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 246.
