WALLKILL, New York—As the dust settled on the closest race in Orange County, New York, this year, Republican Wallkill Supervisor George Serrano fended off a challenge from Town Councilman Neil Meyer by a mere two votes.
The final vote tally, following a court order on two contested ballots on Dec. 8, stood at 1,911–1,909.
“Every vote does count,” Mr. Serrano told The Epoch Times following the court decision. “I am looking forward to serving the residents of the Town of Wallkill for the next two years.”
On the first contested ballot, the oval next to Mr. Meyer’s name was correctly filled based on instructions. However, handwritten names in three blank squares cast the validity of the entire ballot into question.
Orange County Supreme Court Justice David Zuckerman ruled that since the names were written in nonvoting squares where no valid votes could be cast, they rendered the entire ballot invalid under state election law.
He cited the Mondello v. Nassau County case, which establishes that, in general, written words deliberately placed on the ballot by the voter void the entire ballot, subject to certain exceptions that don’t apply in the case of the ballot in question.
As for the other contested ballot, there was an “X” mark in the voting square for Mr. Serrano, which Mr. Meyer took as a stray mark and not an intentional vote, contrary to Mr. Serrano’s belief.
Justice Zuckerman ruled that since the mark was similar to several other marks on the same ballot—which indicated a consistent voting method, as argued by Mr. Serrano’s counsel—and located within a voting square, it should be counted as a valid vote.
Both candidates had filed petitions at the Orange County Supreme Court and asked for judicial intervention on contested ballots, which originally numbered three but later dropped to two.
In the original canvas of ballots by the county Board of Elections, the two candidates had tied—each earning 1,910 votes—which triggered a mandatory hand recount.
State law requires a recount if the margin of victory isn’t more than 20 votes or 0.5 percent of the total votes cast.
During the manual recount, Mr. Serrano challenged the validity of two ballots cast for Mr. Meyer, although he later agreed to let one of the two be counted, while Mr. Meyer challenged one ballot for Mr. Serrano.
