By:Jim Clark and Keith Grant
Fixing the vote:
Long Beach's absentee ballot process drew the eyes of Albany at a special hearing convened Monday, April 16 at the Long Beach Public Library.
New York State Senator Serphin Maltese, (R-C, Middle Village) Chairman of the Senate Election Committee, and Senator Dean Skelos, (R-C, Rockville Center) were joined by Assemblymen Harvey Weisenberg (D, Long Beach), David Sidikman (D, Plainview), and Sen. Daniel Hevesi as testimony was heard charging serious fraud in the May 2000 school board election.
State officials are considering a change in election law that would mandate official, bi-partisan oversight of the casting of ballots in nursing homes, the root of the problem in last May's election. The legislation, Skelos said, would ensure that "senior citizens have their rights protected."
A Special Grand Jury was convened last September, to investigate allegations of misconduct, and possible criminal activities relating to the May, 2000 Long Beach school board election, and an earlier primary contest. The Grand Jury made several findings of fact, as previously reported in The Herald, which caused them to recommend that the Nassau County Board of Elections (BOE) investigate all absentee ballot applications. They further prescribed the adoption of the provisions of Election Law 8-407 by the BOE for all future elections. This law provides for BOE oversight of the voting process in adult care facilities with more than five absentee ballot applications.
As the law is currently optional for the Board of Elections, Skelos and Weisenberg have introduced legislation that would require the BOE to monitor the absentee ballot voting process in any facility with five or more ballot applications, provide for the option for such oversight in nursing home/adult care facilities with less than five absentee ballot applications, and amend the state Education Law to apply these same safeguards to all elections conducted by school districts. To date, school district elections are the sole responsibility of the concerned district, and not the Board of Elections.
Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon addressed the assemblage in support of the proposed amendment. Relating his experiences as a young attorney working to protect civil rights in the South, Dillon said, "I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to fight for disenfranchised voters. I also know the strength of legislation."
Assistant District Attorney, Frank Quigley, of the Special Investigations Bureau provided the results of his office's investigation report to the Special Grand Jury, and in support of the amendment. His report, in part, stated that the allegations made as a result of the school board elections were of special concern, since the absentee ballots overturned the election results.
While incidents of fraud appear to have taken place in the distribution and handling of the absentee ballots in some local nursing homes last year, Quigley explained that no indictments could be handed out because the age and health of many of the seniors involved in the investigation would prevent a concrete. However, he did say there did not appear to be evidence of forgery, nor that any ballots were cast by deceased persons, as has occurred in past Long Beach elections.
Ronald Friedman, Long Beach Superintendent of Schools also spoke in favor of the amendment, stating the importance of what we teach our children in this regard.
"This is not a complicated issue," he said. "It's one of integrity. In the best of worlds, we wouldn't need this bill."
Speaking for the League of Women Voters, Sarah Nicholas said she was pleased to see the state taking such action.
"By working on election reform on the state and local level, we can begin to make the critical changes in the election process to prevent any undue influence and mishandling of the ballots as were described in the Grand Jury report," Nicholas said. "The integrity of the election process can be reclaimed and public confidence restored."
Board of Elections Commissioner Barbara Patton, a Democrat, submitted a letter for the record in which she asked that legislators not only take the steps necessary to ensure voter integrity, but also provide funds to help the various election boards meet these mandates.
The two candidates defeated in last year's school board election, Janine Laskas-Gillespie and Lynn Gergen, also addressed the panel. In the 2000 vote, incumbent trustee Norman Alpren was re-elected to the board after receiving 90 percent of the nursing- home absentee vote, leap-frogging the two challengers.
Gergen said she firmly believed the process governing school district elections needed to be changed.
"I do not understand the need for a separate Education Law," Gergen said. "The integrity of the election process is tainted when the Board of Education is in charge of an election for the Board of Education, especially when a current trustee is up for re-election."
Since the law will not change in time to have any affect on this upcoming May election, Friedman has taken steps he hopes will prevent a repeat of last year. He has sent a strongly worded letter to nursing home operators addressing the seriousness of the grand jury findings and the need for integrity within the election process. He intends to update the public on other steps the district is taking at next Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Education.
