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Friday, June 28, 2024
Vol. 10, No. 26
PortWashingtonTimes MESITA
Port Washing ton
GUIDE TO HOME & DESIGN
COUNTY LEGISLATURE OKAYS TRANS BAN
PAGES 23-30
PAGE 2
NOW OPEN
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Manorhaven residents eye missing ballots
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MOVING UP
Say may be an attempt to suppress votes for challenging party in village election BY C A M E RY N O A K ES Multiple Manorhaven residents said they received absentee ballots in the mail without a ballot inside, with some calling it an attempt to suppress votes for the challenging mayoral candidate and his party running mates. “I would assume that someone didn’t want those ballots to be counted,” a Manorhaven resident of 50 years said, adding that she did not believe it to be an error. Manorhaven Trustee Jeff Stone ran against Mayor John Popeleski in the village’s June 18 election. Running with Stone under the Manorhaven Residents Party were two newcomers challenging two incumbent trustees for their seats. Popeleski defeated Stone in the mayoral race with 486 votes, or 58.6% of the votes. Stone received 343 votes. Deputy Mayor Harry Farina and Trustee Monica Ildefonso ran alongside Popeleski under the Working Families Party. Both were re-elected, garnering nearly 60% of the votes. Farina received 490 votes, and Ildefonso received 472 votes. Nancy Rozakis and Robert Swerdlow challenged them, each receiving 341 votes. Stone estimated that about a doz-
en individuals received these empty absentee ballots in the mail. He said all the individuals he spoke with who received them were supporters of his candidacy. Although about a dozen absentee votes would not have changed the outcome of the election, Stone said the issue at hand is the integrity of the village’s elections. “I want to make sure people feel confident in village government,” Stone had previously told Blank Slate Media. Popeleski said absentee ballots were sent out according to requirements by the Nassau County Board of Elections and were mailed on time. The mayor chalked up the missing ballots to either “human error” by the deputy clerk who handles the ballots or an issue caused during postal transit, but said he did not know what caused the problem. Blank Slate Media spoke with four residents who said they received the empty absentee ballots. All asked to remain anonymous, but Blank Slate Media was able to confirm they are residents of Manorhaven. The four residents said they were supporters of Stone. The residents said the absentee Continued on Page 43
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PORT WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
A Manorhaven Elementary fifth grader shakes hands with Principal Eric Mace at the moving up ceremony as students begin the transition to middle school.
Keiserman wins Dem primary for 7th District BY C A M E RY N O A K ES Port Washington’s Kim Keiserman will face off against Republican state Sen. Jack Martins in the race for District 7 after defeating Brad Schwartz in a landslide in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. “My name is Kim Keiserman, and I’m proud to be your nominee for NY State Senate District 7,” Keiserman wrote in a Facebook post. “Together, we will flip the script on the Nassau GOP because Long Island’s so-called
“red wave” stops right here, right now.” Keiserman defeated Schwartz in the primary contest with 75.14% of the 9,135 votes cast — 6,905 to 2,230, according to the Nassau County Board of Elections. All votes had been counted at the time of publication. Martins, a Republican endorsed by the Conservative Party, did not face a Republican primary and will compete against Keiserman in the Nov. 5 general election.
The district, which includes much of the North Shore and the Town of Oyster Bay as far east as Woodbury, is represented by Martins, who flipped the district red in 2022. Keiserman is an education consultant and serves as a commissioner for the North Hempstead Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, chairwoman of the Baxter Estates Planning Board and a board member of the Come to Believe Network. Continued on Page 42