More than 800 voters signed a petition calling for a ballot proposition on moving the Pelham Manor village elections from March to November, according to a press release Monday from the Committee to Move the Manor Village Election. The committee submitted the petition to Village Clerk Lindsey Luft, who also serves as village manager.

The number of signatures collected is double the minimum of 400 required to place the proposition on the ballot this coming November, the committee said. More than 30 residents worked on the effort.

“The petition was submitted with a memorandum outlining the process as mandated by NYS law, which specifically allows voters to move village election dates by calling for a referendum on a date of their choosing,” said the release. “Following the filing, the village clerk is allowed a review that is ‘strictly ministerial.’ The clerk must send the text of the referendum to the Westchester County Board of Elections by Aug. 5.”

“We have carefully reviewed the signatures on the petition to be sure they belong to registered Pelham Manor voters, and we’ve reviewed the petition to confirm it complies with the law,” organizer Erica Winter said in the press release. 

Volunteer Brooke Monaco said, “People are welcoming the chance to decide when to hold the election. Most people that I asked believe that the decision should be up to voters.” 

This petition comes six years after a previous effort failed when then Village Manager and Village Clerk John Pierpont rejected a similar petition in 2018 because he said 162 of the 532 signatures were invalid, meaning the petition missed the 400-signature requirement. Additionally, he said the petition did not have the required page numbers.

In the Village of Pelham, residents voted to move elections to November in 2019. That petition was initially rejected by then Village Clerk Terri Rourke, also due to an absence of page numbers, but the Village Board of Trustees voted 5-2 before the election in March 2019 to include a referendum on the ballot. The proposition was approved 812 to 498.

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