Cites Lack of Response from Board of Elections, County Executive, and Chair of County Legislature
Poughkeepsie, New York, November 1, 2022—The League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region filed suit today to require the Dutchess County Board of Elections (BOE) to designate a poll site at Vassar College in the Town of Poughkeepsie. Plaintiffs in the suit are two voters who reside on campus and are directly impacted by the county board’s “clear violation” of New York law.
The suit notes that Vassar College has suggested multiple potential sites and asked the Elections Commissioners to visit campus and select one. While Democratic Commissioner Hannah Black has “sought to move the matter forward,” according to the League, Republican Commissioner Erik Haight has repeatedly refused to take action. As late as mid-September he stated that a public hearing on the matter, required by law, would be “premature.”
“We wrote to the Elections Commissioners on September 28,” said League spokesperson Jennifer Clark, “and to County Executive Marcus Molinaro and Chair of the Legislature Gregg Pulver on October 24, urging them to act. We’ve received no response.”
The group argues that the Dutchess County Attorney, appointed by the Executive, gave the BOE inaccurate guidance on the law, which set August 1, 2022 as the deadline to designate poll sites on eligible campuses. The Legislature appoints the Elections Commissioners, on recommendation of the county’s political parties.
The October 24 letter was signed by the Vassar College chapter of Democracy Matters, the Dutchess Student Voter Coalition, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation, in addition to the League of Women Voters.
The letter noted Haight’s “well-documented years-long ongoing efforts to suppress the youth vote in Dutchess County,” including disputes with Bard College over inadequate polling facilities for campus residents. In the Bard case, Haight’s refusal to act cost Dutchess County taxpayers over $120,000 in legal fees.
Dare Thompson, president of the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region, said, “In this deeply disturbing and dangerously polarized time, voters expect their boards of elections to be a bulwark against selfish partisan games. We are beyond disappointed to see Dutchess County’s BOE not only violate the spirit of our voting laws but brazenly violate the law itself. Every one of us must demand better.”
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights.
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For further information contact:
Jennifer Clark
League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region
Jenclark3 [at] gmail.com
(414) 736-3425
