Write-in Campaign Costs Scarsdale Taxpayers $25,000

Poll workers sat idle at 19 polls in Scarsdale on Tuesday waiting for 357 registered members of the Independence Party to vote. As of 7:30 pm, only 8 votes were cast.

The only contest on the ballot wasn't a contest at all. Ben Boykin, the Democratic nominee for County Legislator for District 5 (Scarsdale, White Plains and Harrison) had also received the endorsement of the Independence Party. Former Mayor Miriam Levitt-Flisser, who is running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, also wanted the Independence Party endorsement. She gathered signatures to allow a write-in campaign on the ballot, called an "Opportunity to Ballot." Though the move was successful it ended up costing taxpayers dearly.

When Scarsdale Village Clerk Donna Conkling heard there was only one name on the ballot and very few eligible voters she called the Board of Elections to see if she could consolidate polling and limit expenses. However, the Board of Elections mandated her to open all 19 polling places in Scarsdale, incurring costs for moving voting machines, bringing in special machines for the handicapped, hiring inspectors and poll workers. All told, she estimates that the election cost taxpayers $25,000. For Village elections, which she runs herself, voting is done at Village Hall at a cost of under $1,000.

And how many write-in votes did Flisser receive? According to Mark Lewis of the Scarsdale Democratic Party, the former Mayor lost in both Scarsdale and White Plains. The official count shows Boykin with 29 votes. The ten write-in votes have not yet been counted but are assumed to be for Flisser. Watch for the official results here.

Lewis claims that the Opportunity to Ballot in Scarsdale and White Plains cost taxpayers $60,000. And, in the end, Flisser failed to win the Independence line. Another former Scarsdale Mayor Carolyn Stevens had this to say about the primary election: "Republican/Conservative candidate Miriam Flisser's losing effort to take the Independence Party endorsement away from its designated candidate Ben Boykin was a bigger loss for the taxpayers of Scarsdale. It cost the taxpayers of Scarsdale about $25,000.00 so that 5 people could write in her name."

However Linda Killian, a member of the Scarsdale GPO party and supporter of Flisser provided another explanation for the situation. "Choice is the cornerstone of a democracy. The alternative is no primary and that is unacceptable. Miriam Levitt Flisser offers Independent voters a choice between a candidate selected by a party boss and a truly independent candidate who made no promises of patronage or patronage jobs. Miriam Flisser gives voters an opportunity to reject abuse of the democratic system. The voting procedures were set up in anticipation of Rob Astorino running as a write-in candidate for the Independence party's line as County Executive and the resulting high turnout. Unfortunately, a Westchester County judge denied voters that alternative but allowed Dr. Miriam Flisser and others to mount a write in campaign."

Even stranger than the election was a court order from the Westchester County Supreme Court to impound all voting machines issued on September 10.  According to the order, "all election canvass returns, voting machines, poll bags and paper, absentee, military, affidavit, or emergency (“election day”) ballots and all unopened envelopes containing such ballots relating to the Independence Party Primary Election for the election for the public office of County Legislator for County Legislative Districts 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 14" were impounded.  The voting machines were secured in their respective polling locations and all materials were secured in a locked room in Village Hall by the Scarsdale Police Department, and all keys turned over to the Scarsdale Police Department as per this Court Order until the materials can be picked up by the Board of Elections.

What's the lesson? Beware of politicians who claim they will safeguard your tax dollars.

In other election news, it appears that incumbent Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner has won the Democratic Nomination for his position. Longtime adversary Bob Bernstein of Edgemont challenged the eleven-term supervisor for the nomination but with 93% of the vote counted, Feiner has 66% of the vote (3,631 votes) to Bernstein's 34% (1,862 votes).