Thursday, October 01, 2009
Bungalow voting registrations to be challenged
Lawmaker David Sager is one of the primary forces behind a new grassroots group called Voters for Election Integrity (VEI). At a meeting of about 100 or so residents at the Kauneonga Lake Fire Department building on September 27, Sager said that his group would be formally challenging some, or perhaps many, of the 150 or so people who have, in the past two or three months, registered to vote in the Town of Bethel.
Sager said the group has the support of the three formally organized parties in the town, the Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties. He added, “We have reason to believe that under current election law, many of the recently submitted Town of Bethel registrations are not valid.”
The registrations came in the wake of a battle between town officials and a group called the United Talmudical Academy (UTA) over the summer. The UTA built a shul and community center on Shultz Road without the proper permits, and supervisor Dan Sturm moved to have the building shut down on safety considerations. In response, Hasidic members of the bungalow colonies who use the shul registered to vote in Bethel.
The VEI representatives at the meeting, however, went to great lengths to say the effort is not aimed specifically at any religious group but at the integrity of the election law.
Mike McGuire, a Liberty-based attorney, said the concerns “are not limited to any particular group.” He said the question VEI is concerned with is: “whether people who stay in a bungalow colony from anywhere from one to eight weeks out of an entire year, can legally register and vote here. It would appear from the research that I’ve done in New York State law that the answer is no.”
McGuire said election law stipulates that to vote in a district, a person must maintain a residence there and the law specifically defines a residence as “that place where a person maintains a fixed, permanent and principal home, and to which that person, wherever they may be temporarily located, always intends to return.”
County treasurer Ira Cohen, also a member of the group, said that in his research of the case law, it was fairly clear to him that the Appellate Court, the state’s highest court, has consistently ruled that in election law the word “residence” means “domicile,” which is a fairly strict legal concept that would not include a bungalow. But, said Cohen, “It’s not clear to everyone, but it’s clear to me.”
Gail Rubenfeld, a lawyer who has been working on the issue, said there is a recent case where a court ruled that weekend residents in Bovina, NY, did have the right to vote there even though they live during the week in New York City.
Rubenfeld said in those cases the registrants owned the homes in Bovina, went there almost every weekend, spent vacations there and “they were very involved with the community.” She said it was very different than what was happening in Bethel.
The precise details of how the registrations will be challenged have not been worked out yet, but once they are challenged, the registrations will be investigated by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office. The office will then turn over results of the investigation to the Sullivan County Board of Elections (BOE), which must then decide if the registrations are valid or not.
If VEI does not agree with the BOE’s determination, the matter may be taken to court. If that happens and if the upcoming election results are close enough, there is a possibility that the results of the election might be held up for some time. But, Cohen said, the courts move quickly in cases involving voting and elections.
UTA could not immediately be reached for comment.
http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/09-10-01/head3-bungalows.html
Sager said the group has the support of the three formally organized parties in the town, the Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties. He added, “We have reason to believe that under current election law, many of the recently submitted Town of Bethel registrations are not valid.”
The registrations came in the wake of a battle between town officials and a group called the United Talmudical Academy (UTA) over the summer. The UTA built a shul and community center on Shultz Road without the proper permits, and supervisor Dan Sturm moved to have the building shut down on safety considerations. In response, Hasidic members of the bungalow colonies who use the shul registered to vote in Bethel.
The VEI representatives at the meeting, however, went to great lengths to say the effort is not aimed specifically at any religious group but at the integrity of the election law.
Mike McGuire, a Liberty-based attorney, said the concerns “are not limited to any particular group.” He said the question VEI is concerned with is: “whether people who stay in a bungalow colony from anywhere from one to eight weeks out of an entire year, can legally register and vote here. It would appear from the research that I’ve done in New York State law that the answer is no.”
McGuire said election law stipulates that to vote in a district, a person must maintain a residence there and the law specifically defines a residence as “that place where a person maintains a fixed, permanent and principal home, and to which that person, wherever they may be temporarily located, always intends to return.”
County treasurer Ira Cohen, also a member of the group, said that in his research of the case law, it was fairly clear to him that the Appellate Court, the state’s highest court, has consistently ruled that in election law the word “residence” means “domicile,” which is a fairly strict legal concept that would not include a bungalow. But, said Cohen, “It’s not clear to everyone, but it’s clear to me.”
Gail Rubenfeld, a lawyer who has been working on the issue, said there is a recent case where a court ruled that weekend residents in Bovina, NY, did have the right to vote there even though they live during the week in New York City.
Rubenfeld said in those cases the registrants owned the homes in Bovina, went there almost every weekend, spent vacations there and “they were very involved with the community.” She said it was very different than what was happening in Bethel.
The precise details of how the registrations will be challenged have not been worked out yet, but once they are challenged, the registrations will be investigated by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office. The office will then turn over results of the investigation to the Sullivan County Board of Elections (BOE), which must then decide if the registrations are valid or not.
If VEI does not agree with the BOE’s determination, the matter may be taken to court. If that happens and if the upcoming election results are close enough, there is a possibility that the results of the election might be held up for some time. But, Cohen said, the courts move quickly in cases involving voting and elections.
UTA could not immediately be reached for comment.
http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/09-10-01/head3-bungalows.html
Comments:
The determining factor (whether weekend, or summer residents can register to vote)is if they pay taxes in that particular location. Taxation without representation is not fair!!!
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: October 01, 2009 9:09 PM
: October 01, 2009 9:09 PM
