‘Political operatives’ can fill out ballots



RENSSELAERVILLE — Following the Conservative Party primary, some of the town’s Conservatives criticized the absentee ballot process, which election officials said this week is legal.

The results for the Sept. 18 Conservative Party primary show Myra Dorman and Allyn Wright, Republican candidates for the town board, each received nine Conservative votes, and Marie Dermody and Gary Chase, the Democratic candidates, each received 12 votes.

When applying for an absentee ballot, voters can choose to pick up an absentee ballot at the county board of elections, have the ballot sent to them, or have someone they designate as a courier deliver the ballot to them.

Some of the absentee ballots from the Conservative Party primary were challenged, but none went to court, according to Matthew Clyne, the Albany County Board of Elections Democratic commissioner.

In the assessor’s race, Conservative candidate Steven Wood received eight votes, and Democratic incumbent Jeff Pine received 12 votes.

Pine, making his third run for the office, said it is not uncommon for Democrats to receive the Conservative endorsement. He has received the Conservative endorsement from the county, and it is rare, he said, for a Democrat not to receive the Conservative endorsement. While Democrats may not be conservative on social issues, they are fiscally conservative, he said.
Wood and Bob Bolte, who call themselves "true Conservatives," were present at the county board of elections when votes were tallied the week of the primary and when absentee ballots were opened one week later.
"Incidentally, at the board of elections ballot-opening, I could clearly see that most of the ballots were filled out by the same person," wrote Wood in a letter to the Enterprise editor.

Wood also complained about absentee ballots being held at the board of elections office for Democrats — all members of the Chase family and Democratic Councilwoman Sherri Pine. Wood also questioned the reasons Rensselaerville Conservatives who voted by absentee ballot gave for needing an absentee ballot.

Whether ballots are filled out by the same person is irrelevant, said Clyne, adding that the commissioners determine whether they are filled out correctly, have no extraneous markings, and whether the vote is cast in the appropriate column.
Clyne said absentee applications and ballots are often filled out by "political operatives" to expedite the process.
Four out of five times, he said, they are filled out by political operatives "just to get things going," and then they are signed by the voter.

Like any legal form, the voter has to be cognizant, and the form has to be filled out with his or her consent, he said.
Clyne called the absentee ballot "a strange form," indicating voters may need help filling it out.
"There’s nothing sinister about it," said Clyne of one person filling out multiple ballots for voters. "Most political operatives do it. I’ve done it many times myself."
"A voter can have assistance," said Bob Brehm, spokesman for the New York State Board of Elections. When voting by absentee ballot, a person other than the voter cannot fill out an absentee form for another person without that person’s knowledge and consent, said Brehm. The voter must sign the form unless he or she is not able to because of an illness or disability.
"Handwriting analysis tends to be judicial," said Brehm, adding that the county board of elections can document the objections to the votes. Brehm called a county’s board of elections "an administrative body."

When challenging a ballot, the person objecting must present evidence and facts to a judge, Brehm said.
Asked if a suspicious or invalid ballot could go unnoticed if a person does not object to the vote, Brehm said, "It doesn’t go unnoticed." Brehm was once a local commissioner.
In Wood’s letter to the Enterprise editor, Wood says, "Dead people voting in Rensselaerville was the norm, people voting from all over the world and some didn’t even know they voted absentee."

According to Brehm, in cases of deceased people, the State Health Department shares information with the State Board of Elections and the state board then shares that information with the county boards.

State-wide, on a monthly basis, the State Board of Elections sends a hard copy and a disc in an envelope to the county boards, Brehm said.

Because of legislation in 1993 — the National Voter Registration Act (The Motor Voter Act) — it is the voter’s responsibility to notify the county board of elections when they move within the county, he said. If a person moves to a different county, and does not notify the board of an address change, a different procedure is followed.

Currently, the state board of elections is working to add a feature to its website for voters to look up their name to make sure their information correct, Brehm said.

The deadline for new voters to register for the November election is tomorrow (Friday).