District Attorney Hoovler Announces Release of Grand Jury Report Concerning Village Election
Orange County Grand Jury Investigated HowAbsentee Ballots were Handled During a Village’s 2023 Election
Report Contains Findings as to What Caused Issues with the Absentee Ballots, Along with Recommendations as to How That Village, and Others, can Avoid Similar Issues
A Copy of the Grand Jury Report is Available at:
District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that an Orange County Grand Jury has issued a report containing its findings regarding how Absentee Ballots were apparently mishandled during a particular village’s 2023 election, and recommendations as to how that village, and others, can avoid similar issues in the future.
A civil lawsuit alleged that fourteen (14) individuals who were not registered to vote had improperly requested, received, and cast absentee ballots in the 2023 village election; and that another sixteen (16) individuals who were not registered to vote had improperly applied for and received absentee ballots, but that they subsequently registered prior to the canvassing of ballots in the election.
The District Attorney’s Office presented evidence for the Grand Jury to investigate how the Absentee Ballots were handled and so it could make specific recommendations as how the village, and similarly situated villages in Orange County, can avoid needless litigation, better safeguard the integrity of village elections, have the Absentee Ballot Application forms more closely adhere to the requirements of the New York State Election Law, and increase confidence in the electoral process while optimizing governmental efficiency and transparency.
In the report, the Grand Jury found that the village clerk needed repeated guidance from the Orange County Board of Elections as to how to properly conduct elections. The Grand Jury found that the litigation resulting from the election could have been avoided if the clerk had obtained the list of registered voters from the Board of Elections and checked that list against the list of those seeking to obtain absentee ballots. The Grand Jury found that the clerk acted in good faith but was simply inexperienced in handling elections. The Grand Jury also found that one candidate for office also had the ability to hire and fire the clerk, who was tasked with administering a fair and neutral election process, which created a situation which could result in voters doubting that the election was being conducted in a neutral manner, even without misconduct by any public official.
The Grand Jury praised the checks and balances instituted by the two Orange County Board of Election Commissioners (one from each of the major parties) which ensures transparency and trust in the elections that they administer. The Grand Jury noted that since the Orange County Board of Election Commissioners are not answerable to any other public official and are more independent than village clerks who are at-will employees and who are answerable to officials and candidates in the elections that they are administering.
The Grand Jury noted that many village elections occur in June, although the Election Law allows not only for the village boards to move the administration of elections from the village clerk to the Orange County Board of Elections but also allows village boards to move the date of the election to November. The Grand Jury found that moving village elections to November would result in greater voter participation, since many people know when Primary Day and Election Day are, but fewer people know when village elections are conducted. The Grand Jury found that the Orange County Board of Elections could more easily handle the logistics involved in administering village elections if those elections coincide with elections they are already administering on Election Day in November.
The Grand Jury learned that the Orange County Board of Elections, as well as other entities, provide annual training on these issues to village clerks, but not all clerks attend that training.
The clerk created a spreadsheet setting forth who submitted absentee ballots in the election, and who was authorized and delivered those ballots to the Village Clerk’s Office. Based on who delivered those absentee ballots, those examining the spreadsheet can infer who particular voters likely voted for, without having to open sealed ballots. The Grand Jury foundthat after the clerk delivered a copy of the spreadsheet to acandidate that was also a village official, that official inferred that a particular voter had voted against him, and thereafter the official’s son contacted the voter to ask why they had voted for his father’s opponent.
The Grand Jury found that the multiple people who had requested and signed Absentee Ballot Applications were unaware of the requirement that they be registered to vote in the Village at the time that they signed the application, and were similarly unaware that they could potentially face criminal charges for certifying that they were registered to vote, when they were in fact not registered. The Grand Jury believed that the majority of these voters did not have criminal intent when they signed those forms.
Election Law § 15-120(3) states that, “[a]n application for an absentee ballot must be signed by the applicant. Such an application may require that the applicant submit a certificate in lieu of any affidavit which shall state that the information contained in the application is true. Such certificate shall be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit and shall have the following language printed in bold face type above the signature line: “I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CERTIFICATE WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR ALL PURPOSES AS THE EQUIVALENT OF AN AFFIDAVIT AND, IF IT CONTAINS A MATERIAL FALSE STATEMENT, SHALL SUBJECT ME TO THE SAME PENALTIES AS IF I HAD BEEN DULY SWORN.” The Grand Jury found that New York State Absentee Ballot Forms distributed by the New York State Board of Elections do not have that language in bold face or all capital letters as mandated by the statute. The Grand Jury finds that the failure to place that information in all capital letters and in bold confused some voters.
The Grand Jury recommended: 1) That all villages in Orange County and elsewhere consider transferring the administering of village elections to the County Board of Elections; 2) That village boards move village elections to Election Day in November to enhance greater voter participation and not impede the efficiency of the Orange County Board of Elections; 3) that village clerks who continue to administer village elections be mandated by the officials that oversee their duties to attend training offered by the Orange County Board of Elections; 4)that information concerning absentee ballots only be disseminated by village clerks pursuant to requests made under the Freedom of Information Law, and that village clerks who continue administering elections ensure that anything given to one candidate is also made available to that candidate’s opponent; and 5) that Section 8 of the New York State Absentee Ballot Application be printed in all capital letters and bold face type in accordance with Election Law § 15-120(3) so that it reads, “I CERTIFY THAT I AM A QUALIFIED AND A REGISTERED (AND FOR PRIMARY ENROLLED) VOTER; AND THAT THE INFORMATION IN THIS APPLICATION IS TRUE AND CORRECT AND THAT THIS APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR ALL PURPOSES AS THE EQUIVALENT OF AN AFFIDAVIT AND, IF IT CONTAINS A MATERIAL FALSE STATEMENT, SHALL SUBJECT ME TO THE SAME PENALTIES AS IF I HAD BEEN DULY SWORN.”
“I thank this Grand Jury for the time and effort they put into this report and for their thoughtful recommendations,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “I agree with the Grand Jury that if the practical recommendations made in this report are adopted, elections within various municipalities in Orange County, and elsewhere, could be conducted more efficiently, in greater conformance with the letter and spirit of the New York State Election Law, with more transparency, and in a manner which would raise the general public’s confidence in the integrity of the electoral process. There is nothing more important in a democracy than free and transparent elections.”