If the too-close-to-call mayoral election in Pelham Manor had taken place two years ago, all eyes would be on Village Hall, at 4 Penfield Place, where the review process would determine the winner. But since the village’s elections were taken over by the county this year, the action is taking place in White Plains and Ardsley, where it’s being run by officials from the Westchester County Board of Elections.
As of Wednesday, the county board has been tallying absentee ballots as they arrive in the mail, so the number of votes received by Mayor Jennifer Monachino Lapey, a Republican, and challenger Mark Cardwell, a Democrat, are changing. Lapey has now opened up a lead of 20 votes, 1,216 to 1,196. As for the race for two openings on the Manor Board of Trustees, incumbent Tim Case has pulled ahead of challenger Ryan Kurtz and is within 8 votes of the leader Deborah Winstead.
By late Thursday, the county had processed 44 ballots it received since election day, according to information being circulated by the board. This day-by-day process will continue until next Wednesday, November 12, the cut-off day for receiving mail-in ballots, according to the New York State Board of Elections calendar for voting deadlines.
According to data from the county, there were a total of 318 requests for absentee or mail-in ballots requested by residents of Pelham Manor in the weeks leading up to the election. Of that number, some 63 absentee ballots have yet to be received in White Plains. It’s not clear how many of these will arrive in the next few days, or how many of these prospective absentee voters changed their minds and cast ballots at the polls, or did not vote at all.
On Monday, the county will review invalid ballots received and conduct a canvass of affidavit ballots, according to a schedule sent on September 19 to all candidates about the election process. Affidavit ballots occur when a voter requests a mail-in or absentee ballot, but then decides to vote on election day via machine. If poll workers notice that the voter has requested a mail-in ballot, the voter must sign an affidavit at the polling station affirming the legitimacy of the vote.
According the federal government, the canvassing process “aggregates and confirms that all valid ballots cast in the election are accurately counted and included in the final election results.”
After all this, if the final tally between Lapey and Cardwell shows them within 20 votes of each other, officials at the county board of elections will conduct a manual recount.
Pelham’s Democrats—who supported Cardwell and two other candidates for the Manor’s Board of Trustees, Ryan Kurtz and Deborah Winstead—say they take comfort from the fact the process will be overseen at the county level. “I’m one of the many people grateful that the county Board of Elections is overseeing the Manor vote count, since both major parties participate in the process,” wrote Allison Frost, chair of Pelham, NY Democrats, in a message. “That provides a check and balance not required when the election was under village control.”
As for Republicans in the Manor, they can take comfort in the fairness of the process ahead, according to Douglas Colety, a Republican commissioner on the Westchester County Board of Elections.
“The state of New York has the best system for running elections,” said Colety in an interview today. “One party does not control the board of elections. For every Republican employee there is a Democrat counterpart. Everything has checks and balances. Every ballot has a chain of custody. One party cannot do anything without the other. It’s not a system where everything is a free-for-all…We have the highest standards, which means that every vote will be counted, and the election will be certified by a bipartisan board of elections. We can guarantee this.”
Scott Wolfgang • Nov 8, 2025 at 4:31 am
Very good update. The article touches on this slightly, but one thing to further clarify is that the Manor elections can be held on an independent March date but run by the county. Said differently, village elections do not need to be held in November to be run by the county. Many villages across the county and state do just that whereby they maintain their independent March election date but have the county administer. This is an important distinction not expressly called out in the article that the community should be aware.
Sid Burke • Nov 8, 2025 at 12:40 pm
Of course, the VOPM trustees had an opportunity each year to have the county run the elections and they chose not to… they didn’t need a referendum to do that.
Natali Wind • Nov 8, 2025 at 1:26 pm
We had been doing that, but we voted to stop. And those of us who voted “Yes” to November did so for the very reason Commissioner Colety mentioned, “One party does not control the board of elections. For every Republican employee there is a Democrat counterpart. Everything has checks and balances. Every ballot has a chain of custody. One party cannot do anything without the other.”
Lida DeVino • Nov 8, 2025 at 1:35 pm
I agree … well said. The sole reason for the November election is simply to ensure a larger Democratic turnout … in the hopes of electing a Democratic mayor.
Fred Gallo • Nov 9, 2025 at 8:13 am
And the sole reason for objecting (and the incumbents denying and then appealing the denial of) the referendum to move the election was to accomplish “what” exactly? To ensure a smaller Democratic turnout to PREVENT the election of a Democrat?
Arthur Long • Nov 9, 2025 at 4:10 pm
Starting from first principles, one would not assume Democrats are less civic minded than Republicans and can’t be bothered, outside of November, to exercise franchise rights prior generations died to protect.