What's Absent With Clarkstown's Absentee Ballots?

I always hope people will like me, and I'm always afraid they will think I'm a fraud. I try harder than perhaps I should to make people like me, then it backfires. They think I'm a buffoon - Jay McInerney, American Novelist.

On September 16, 2013 Robin Traum of New City Patch in an article entitled Clarkstown's Primary Battles Not Over Yet reported:

Democratic Clarkstown Highway Superintendent candidate Dennis Malone filed petitions in court on Friday that raised questions about irregularities with absentee ballots coming from Clarkstown members of the Working Families Party. A court hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 17th before Judge Gerald Loehr. Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Kristen Stavisky confirmed Monday night she and Republican Elections Commissioner Lou Babcock had been served with subpoenas. Stavisky acknowledged the number of absentee ballots was high. “I think it’s unusual,” she said. “You don’t expect the number of absentees to exceed the number cast in the primary or general election.”

Numerous subpoenas were to be served to people at Clarkstown's Town Hall including Highway Superintendent Wayne Ballard and his assistant Nancy Willen.  Ballard's patronage employee, Frank Sparaco, was served at his home and is believed to be the principal target of the inquiry. Throughout the evening of Monday, September 16th numerous people, who had either filed absentee ballots or who had participated in the collection of the ballots, were subpoeaned to appear in Judge Loehr's court and bring specific documents that the court wishes to examine.

What has brought us to this point?  Let us start here ......

Debra Ortutay, the mother-in-law of Frank Sparaco was indicted for perjury and fraud and served a prison sentence in the Rockland County Jail having on December 6, 2011 pleaded guilty to perjury and falsiying records. The Rockland County Times provided the following background:

The former Rockland Independence Party chairwoman, Debra Ortutay, admitted to lying to a grand jury which was investigating improprieties involving the signing of petitions for the party’s ballot line during the Assembly race between Frank Sparaco and Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski in 2010. 

In December 2011, Ortutay admitted to signing the petitions and falsely claiming that she had witnessed 12 Rockland Independence Party voters signing the documents. She also later told the same story about witnessing the signatures before a grand jury.  In addition, Ortutay pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and in addition to the three felony charges, she also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of violating state election law.

In 2010 Sparaco led the effort to have his mother-in-law elected as Independence Party chairwoman, replacing longtime chair Marsha Coopersmith, whom he’d accused of corruption and patronage. One of Sparaco’s complaints about Coopersmith was that she used her influence to gain a cozy “no-show” job in Clarkstown that paid over $150,000 a year including benefits and pension. Curiously, with Coopersmith out of the political powerbroker picture, Clarkstown lawmakers installed none other than Jay Savino in her position.

Sparaco now serves in the Rockland County Legislature and presently holds a "cozy" $75,000 part-time patronage job in Clarkstown created for him by Highways Superintendent Wayne Ballard. While in this position Sparaco, with Ballard's knowledge, recently videotaped a Town Councilman and a Town employee claiming he was "uncovering corruption". His buffoonish 'Inspector Clouseau' findings were of no interest to any law enforcement agency including the FBI and his efforts have landed him and Wayne Ballard with a lawsuit for defamation.  

Jay Savino represented Ortutay in court; he was reported to be a pal of her son-in-law, Sparaco. Savino was the Bronx GOP Chairman when he was hired by Supervisor Gromack into another "cozy" part-time patronage job for $87,000 as Clarkstown's Tax Certiorari attorney. Savino was arrested by the FBI and, after an emergency meeting of the Town Board, he was fired for accepting a bribe to give an election line to a Democrat in the New York City mayoral race.

Fast forward to an article written in mid-August 2013 entitled 'Should Voters Beware or is Forewarned Forearmed?' in which I asked what was going on with absentee ballots for the September 10, 2013 primaries. I noted that a look at the numbers of absentee ballots being requested for the minority party lines showed statistical anomalies that would warrant examination by the New York State Board of Elections.  The percentage of absentee ballots being requested indicated that one third of the population of Clarkstown would be out of the State or otherwise indisposed on election day to such a degree that they could not go in person to their local polling station.

Subsequently, a letter dated August 10, 2013 was delivered to numerous people in Clarkstown giving Sparaco's name and phone number as the contact person. This letter appeared to be encouraging people to vote by Absentee Ballot in the September 10, 2013 primary election stating that people can vote “from the comfort of their own home without having to go to their local polling place”.

Additionally, requests for absentee ballot papers did not seem to be originating from single individuals applying independently of one another but were requested by a few people on their behalf. The letter from Legislator Sparaco suggested that those efforts were being orchestrated by him.

Why one wonders was Sparaco, a Republican who was not running for any position in the September primary, so intensely involved in gathering absentee ballos for three minority parties one of which, the Independence Party, has been called a legal racket by Phil Reisman an opinion writer for the Journal News?

These suspicions have now been confirmed by a petition filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by Highway Superintendent candidate, Dennis Malone which alleges, that through irregular and improper means certain persons have contrived to put this election “in a box”, in advance of election day, by means not permitted under the election law.  

Here is some information from documents that were filed with the court on September 13, 2013 ......

Dennis Malone is the petitioner against The Rockland County Board of Elections, and Louis Babcock and Kristen Zebrowski Stavisky, as Commissioners. Wayne Ballard is a respondent for an Order directing the preservation of all ballots cast in the Primary Election held on September 10, 2013 for the Working Families Party Nomination for the Office of Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Clarkstown.  The order would direct the examination by Malone's attorney and his agents of all ballots cast in the primary election. 

Alan M. Goldston is the attorney for Malone and the dominant issue is the validity of absentee ballots which, it is alleged, were solicited, collected, handled and submitted by a team of partisans, in violation of the election law. The ballots, presently unopened and uncounted, exceed the entire number of ballots cast on Election Day.  

The court was asked to treat this matter as an emergency because on Tuesday September 17, 2013, the Board of Elections was scheduled to open the absentee ballots. The court was asked to prevent the absentee ballot envelopes from being opened thus maintaining knowledge of which ballots have been filed by people claiming to be bona fide filers of such ballots. 

Here are some details of the request made to the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of Rockland ......

Dennis Malone was designated by petition for nomination in the September 10, 2013 primary election as the Working Families Party candidate for the public office of Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Clarkstown. No other candidate was duly designated as a candidate for that respective nomination, but each such nomination was subject to an 'Opportunity to Ballot' in such Primary Election, i.e. voters could write in another candidate's name.

Wayne Ballard as the incumbent Clarkstown Superintendent of Highways, and a candidate for re-election on one or more lines is named as the most likely beneficiary of the write-in campaign and unlawful absentee ballot solicitation program relating to the Opportunity to Ballot as to the Nomination of the Working Families Party for the public office he presently holds.  

Unofficial election night returns indicated that 74 votes were cast with respect to the Working Families Primary with 45 votes (60.2%) for Malone, and 29 votes (39.2%) for a write-in, presumably Ballard.  Absentee ballots would not be canvassed until September 17, 2013 but the Board of Elections had advised that the number of absentee ballots received, but not yet opened or cast, exceeded the total number of votes actually cast on election day.  

Published reports indicate that there are 401 persons enrolled in the Working Families Party in the entire County; that the Board had processed for this primary election 142 applications for absentee ballots, county-wide, ostensibly from persons enrolled in the Party; that every one of such 142 applications was from a resident of Clarkstown; and that such number of requests exceeds the total number of votes (128) actually cast in the last off-year (2011) primary in such Party, county-wide.  

Thus for some inexplicable reason 35% of the eligible voters were claiming they would not be able to go to the polls and vote in person.

In addition to the unusually large number of such absentee ballot requests, and the unusual concentration of such requests entirely in the Town of Clarkstown, other circumstances indicated the possibility of irregularity or impropriety in connection with the casting of absentee ballots affecting the Working Families Party nomination of Malone.  

Press accounts indicated that Frank Sparaco, an employee of the Clarkstown Highway Department and therefore a subordinate of Ballard, and other co-workers and subordinates of Sparaco, solicited absentee ballots for the primary, misleadingly encouraging persons to use “the absentee ballot … to vote from the comfort of their home”, and to entrust Mr. Sparaco or his associates with the custody of such ballots. In press accounts Sparaco admitted this activity. 

It is alleged that many of the ballot requests, if actually signed by voters, were signed by reason of misleading statements, improper inducements, and inappropriate solicitation tactics on the part of Sparaco and his associates. Further, copies of absentee ballot applications, obtained under the Freedom of Information Law, showed that Sparaco, and his associates were designated as the agents for handling this very large number of absentee ballots. 

It is alleged that many of the absentee ballot applications purportedly designating Sparaco or his associates as “agent” have the appearance of being filled out in the same handwriting.  Signatures on some applications do not appear to match the signature on the voter’s “buff card” on file with the Board and some of the affidavit ballot envelopes received by the Board contain signatures which do not match the registered signature of the alleged voter.

It is believed that most of the affidavit ballots were not, as required by law, either mailed to the Board or delivered personally to the Board by the individual voters, but were instead delivered to the Board by Mr. Sparaco and his associates.  Thus, these absentee ballots pose not only an appearance of impropriety, but a likelihood of irregularity, and a substantial risk of subversion of the election process.

If so many absentee ballots passed, uncontrolled, through the hands of a concentrated group of persons who are employed as subordinates to a candidate for re-election then this is itself a mark of substantial irregularity that the integrity of such ballots cannot be assumed, and such ballots should not be allowed.

According to the documents filed with the court some of the absentee ballots submitted by the agents were from (i) voters unaware that an absentee ballot was being sought; and/or (ii) the voter was unaware that he/she was designating an agent to receive their ballot; and/or (iii) the voter did not actually place the vote on the ballot or ever see the ballot; and/or (iv) the voter did not actually sign or place his/her mark on the ballot envelope; and/or (v) the vote was otherwise obtained by illegal means, including the fact that the voter was falsely informed that he/she was eligible to cast an absentee ballot on the pretext of a feigned excuse.

Given the court filings one now becomes suspicious as to why one of the election commissioners who has been subpoeaned, Louis Babcock, was allegedly taking time to assist Sparaco on election day to view election books ..... 

According to poll workers Sparaco attempted to enroll as a poll observer at the Valley Cottage library but arrived there without the proper paperwork. The poll workers refused to allow him to view the election books. Sparaco left and returned later with Board of Elections Commissioner, Louis Babcock. Neither Babcock nor Sparaco were allowed to touch the registers, but Babcock allegedly told a poll worker it was okay to flip the pages.  At each page Mr. Sparaco was reportedly writing down the names of people who had not voted. According to the observers, the stated intent was to contact those who hadn't voted to "encourage them" to vote. 

The questions this raises are ......

Were prepared absentee ballots submitted for those who had not voted?

Did Highway Department workers report for work on Election Day and file absentee ballots?

The poll workers at the Valley Cottage library who witnessed these events as well as employees of the Board of Elections should be called to testify as to why these alleged events took place given the inordinately high number of absentee ballots that were filed only in the Town of Clarkstown.

Further, given the above alleged events at the Valley Cottage Library an examination of the Facebook page authored by 'Legislator Frank Sparaco' seems to point suspiciously to pre-knowledge of the contents of the absentee ballots which were not due to be opened until Tuesday, Sept 17, 2013. Here are a series of exchanges with Sparaco which all occurred prior to September 17 on his Facebook page ........

Sparaco September 13:   I want to thank all of you that supported our team in this years primary election.  We won by record numbers.  All of your overwhelming support exceeded our wildest dreams.  Our opponents are the filthiest I've ever come across.  There (sic) attempts at voter surpression (sic), bribery, and extortion have failed miserably this (sic) far. Lets keep up the momentum and win big in November. I'm proud that Ballard won the conservative primary 5 to 1. The independence primary 4 to 1 and the working families 3 to 1. The voters do know our record and seem to be receptive to our message

Barbara Wallach Thorn September 15:   Frank, I thought I read that Malone won Working Families but you said Ballard won.

Sparaco:   No. Ballard won. We just have to wait for all the ballots to be counted. He won huge.

Dylan Skriloff Editor of Rockland County Times:   The absentee ballots are counted a week after the election night ballots. That's because they have to allow time for them to arrive by mail.

Thorn:   Thanks Dylan but I think Frank is wrong.  It said in the patch (which I checked!) that the conservative party line went to Ballard who received 261 votes to the 155 votes cast for the other guy and it said that Ballard won the independence line by 95 votes to 54 but Malone is the Working Families candidate for highway superintendent.  My friend told me I should look at the board of elections website so i did and it shows the same thing that the malone guy won the workers so I'm right.  Absentee ballots only make a difference when candidates are neck and neck like in Florida that time Bush won. Also frank said ballard won the conservative primary 5 to 1 and the independence 4 to 1 and the working families 3 to 1 which is all also wrong.  Not criticizing you guys but just sayin' you men shouldn't exaggerate ;-)  

Sparaco:   I am just counting all the absentee ballots that will be officially tallied on tues. The results will be what I said aprox 500 to 160 on the con. 200 to 50 on the independence line. And 160 to 50 on the working families line. All votes are counted it doesn't matter if they make a difference. Tuesday will only confirm my numbers. 

And so we now head to Judge Loehr's court for the next chapter in the buffoonish 'Sparaco Saga' pondering what is absent with Clarkstown's absentee ballots?

Perhaps the answer will be that the 'absentee voters' were not 'absent'?
This blog is authored by Michael N. Hull, a retired senior citizen who writes opinion pieces on local political issues. He is a Director of Clarkstown Residents Opposing Patronage with Tom Nimick and Ralph Sabatini.  Hull contributes periodically to the Facebook page Clarkstown: What They Don't Want You To Know and on Twitter.