By Stephen J. Bronner
Handel did not take the opportunity to address these concerns, and therefore will not be on the ballot. With Handel out of the race, Fragin and Mael will run unopposed.
“I'm not running in this election because Mr. Fragin found some picky things in my petitions that he did not approve of and the Board of Elections said there was no time to change,” Handel said. “The only way I could run is to be a write-in candidate and I did not want to open a can of worms in the village. I love the village too much.”
Fragin called Handel's petitions into question shortly after the deadline to file. He claimed that some signatures were repeated and that signers were not registered to vote or were not Lawrence residents, according to Handel. Mael, who is running on the same line as Fragin, reviewed the election complaints against Handel before they were submitted.
Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner William Biamonte confirmed issues with Handel's petition. “There were problems on every single page,” Biamonte said. “Whoever witnessed the pages for her did not fill out the number of signatures on each page and that’s a fatal flaw.”
This will be Fragin's first election; he was appointed to Mayor C. Simon Felder's trustee seat last June when he became mayor. Mael is running for his fourth two-year term on the four-person board.
Fragin said he believes any registered voter is entitled to run, provided the paperwork is filed properly. “The Board of Elections and the Village Clerk all ruled unanimously that Jackie Handel did not meet the legal requirements demanded by the law,” Fragin said. “This situation is no doubt unfortunate for those who support her, but I stress that every candidate is subject to the same rules. I hope she continues her service to the village and be active and involved.”
Mael agreed with Fragin about open elections and said he welcomes competition in coming elections. “I am confident in the work that I've done for the last six years,” Mael said. “I'm proud of my accomplishments and the accomplishments of the board. It was no concern to me for somebody else to run.”
Handel said she hopes to run for village trustee in the future. “I very much would have wanted to be a trustee,” Handel said. “In the past, there have been female members, but for the past four years there have not been. I'm more than capable of handling the job and I hope to be able to have that opportunity.”
Comments about this story? SBronner@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
For more on the local village elections, check out next week’s issue of the Herald.
