Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, November 12, 2021
Vol. 70, No. 46
BLANK SLATE HONORS WOMEN OF DISTINCTION PAGE 9
USMMA HALTS YEAR AT SEA
BLAKEMAN ASSESSING ON REASSESSMENT
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Nassau to take another week to tally votes Suffolk begins counting ballots on Tuesday, immediately after deadline BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z With more than 22,000 absentee ballots and 1,200 affidavit ballots cast by residents remaining to be counted, officials from the Nassau County Board of Elections said they will not begin the task until next week. While Suffolk County’s election board began counting such votes on Tuesday night, the deadline for absentee ballots to be submitted, Nassau County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner James Scheuerman said state officials required affidavit information to be submitted by Friday. Scheuerman said the election board “did not feel it was prudent” to begin counting the votes until Nov. 15 to make sure all the voter information was verified. According to Scheuerman, 22,538 absentee ballots and the 1,200 affidavit ballots remained outstanding. Statistics provided by Scheuerman showed that 12,769
of the 22,538 absentee ballots returned to the county were submitted by registered Democrats, while 5,310 were submitted by registered Republicans. Additionally, 2,796 absentee ballots were submitted by registered voters with no party preference. Voters who go to polling places who are not listed on the rolls can cast affidavit ballots, which are counted once they are verified as proper by election officials. Despite outstanding ballots, some candidates in the county have already declared victory. Town of Hempstead Councilman Bruce Blakeman, who leads Democratic County Executive Laura Curran by more than 11,000 votes, said he feels “confident” about the race despite Curran not being mathematically defeated yet. Curran, who received 124,008 votes compared with Blakeman’s 135,842, had not conceded as of Wednesday. Continued on Page 34
PHOTO COURTESY OF MINEOLA UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Mineola High School students dedicated their time to help community members learn about technology. During after-school sessions, student volunteers provided one-on-one instruction on a variety of topics. See story on page 47.
Mineola opts out of sale of marijuana in village BY B R A N D ON DUFFY
The move follows decisions by the neighboring villages of Floral Park, New Hyde Park The Mineola Board of and Williston Park to opt out of Trustees voted last Wednesday the adult-use cannabis industry to opt out of allowing the sale that New York state projects will reach $350 million annuof marijuana in the village.
ally in tax collections. The vote in Mineola was 4-1 with Trustee George Durham casting the lone vote to allow the retail sale of cannabis. Under the new state law, Continued on Page 35
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