White Plains CitizeNetReporter - <i>FLASH!</i> Delgado Strikes Back! Sues for District 18 Revote.

The Board of Elections told WPCNR Friday that Councilman Larry Delgado has filed a law suit in State Supreme Court in White Plains, calling for a revote in District 18 where a mechanical malfunction of a voting machine reportedly cost Mr. Delgado 100 votes.

Republican Deputy Commissioner of the Board of Elections, Steve Levy, told WPCNR that Mr. Delgato filed his lawsuit Wednesday calling for a revote in District 18 in the North end of White Plains. Levy said the suit has been assigned to Judge Nicholas Colabella, and was scheduled to be heard next week (perhaps Wednesday). Asked when the Judge would rule, Levy said that was up to the judge.

Faulty Delgado Lever Allegedly Cost Delgado Winning Votes

Levy said the grounds for the suit was mechanical error. WPCNR has learned that the lever under Mr. Delgado’s name in the voting machine in that district, located in George Washington School, pulled down normally enough but sometime during the voting the mechanism triggering the vote malfunctioned and was not caught by election inspectors.

What tipped Republican District Runners to this anomaly were the vote tallies for Robert Tuck and Michael Amodio were running at approximately 155 votes each, and Mr. Delgado had been recorded for only approximately 55 votes. Republicans felt this was a call-in error, however during the recanvas Tuesday the machine reportedly was determined to have suffered a mechanical failure where votes could not be recorded.

Historic Action

To the recollection of persons WPCNR has contacted with long knowledge of elections in the city, this is the first time such an action has been taken. Mr. Levy was asked what were the options before Judge Colabella.

According to Levy, Colabella could dismiss the suit, or he could order a revote in District 18. WPCNR asked Levy whether the vote would only be among those voters actually shown in the register as voting November 6, or whether the vote would be open to all voters in the district. Levy said this was up to Judge Colabella to decide.

Colabella, could apparently simply throw out the District 18 vote altogether, dismiss the suit and allow the present count to stand, annointing Hockley, or perhaps even instate the 100 votes Delgado forces are claiming he deservedly should have gotten had the lever been functioning correctly.

Seasoned Obververs Speculate

Speculating at the City Limits Diner, Alex Philippidis and James Benerofe, two longtime observers of typical election suits, thought that Colabella might very well dismiss the suit, since Delgado’s reelection would have no effect on the council majority.

Hockley Reports 65-Vote Margin on Mr. Delgado Friday morning

Present Councilman-elect Glen Hockley, speaking as a guest on the Friday morning White Plains Week show, said as of Friday morning he had a 65-vote margin over Mr. Delgado, and expected the military ballots (the last deadline for receiving such military ballots is Monday) to have no effect. Mr. Delgado could not be contacted for comment.


Create an account		The White Plains Daily Internet Newspaper...Founded 2000 A.D....


			Designed and hosted by WestchesterInternet.com