After votes couldn’t be counted Tuesday night in the contest for four Village of Pelham Manor trustee seats, Village Manager and Clerk Lindsey Luft was working with the Westchester Board of Elections on Wednesday on the official tally.
Pelham Town Democratic Chairwoman Allison Frost said in a statement sent after midnight that her party’s two candidates Kate Pringle and Mark Cardwell “received more votes cast” on Tuesday than the incumbents. She also said there were irregularities in the count and noted the election hadn’t been certified.
Incumbent Republicans Breda Bennett and Maurice Owen-Michaane are running against the Democratic challengers.
Elections results were unavailable Tuesday night because ballots were getting jammed in a voting machine, according to our reporter at the polling place, the Pelham Manor Firehouse.
In an email sent to residents Wednesday morning, Luft said during the count it was found “the voting machines that are provided by Westchester County Board of Elections were not properly programmed to read the absentee/early mail ballots. The absentee/early mail ballots were prepared in collaboration with the county board of elections.”
Luft said she will continue working with county election officials on Wednesday to “ensure a full and proper count of the absentee/early mail ballots.”
“Once this is complete, an official final count of votes cast will be shared,” she said.
Pelham Manor runs its own elections, declining to use the free services of the Westchester Board of Elections, and the village named as chief election officer Luft, who as village manager and clerk was hired by and reports to the incumbent board of trustees.
Though results weren’t official or reported, Frost said in her statement at 12:39 a.m., “Kate Pringle and Mark Cardwell received more votes cast today than the incumbents did. We’re equally disappointed that a series of mishaps is standing in the way of certifying the results.”
“Unfortunately, the process is currently plagued by irregularities,” said Frost. “Hundreds of ballots have poured in at the last minute, many are absentee ballots. Some ballots have been disqualified, while others have been torn by malfunctioning machines. As of now, some ballots have been opened and counted, while others have not.”
At 10:54 p.m. Tuesday, a tech for the machines arrived at the firehouse, after a machine had been stuck for at least an hour. Then the count was discontinued.
During the tallying, Pelham Manor Democratic Chairwoman Toby Marxuah-Gusciora said it was illegal to open the voting machine, though she said election staff opened one that already had two ballots put through it.
At one point, election staff said they were trying to use the machine for the handicapped.
Overnight, the ballots were to be in the custody of an officer of the Pelham Manor Police Department, Luft said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.