GOSHEN – The attorney representing Town of Newburgh Councilman Paul Ruggiero said he is “optimistic” his client will be declared the winner after an Orange County Supreme Court judge hears arguments concerning the accuracy of the canvass of all ballots cast in November’s election.
Adam Fusco filed an Order to Show Cause (OSC) with the court last month on Ruggiero’s behalf. Two seats were initially won by Democrats Mary McLymore, who received 3,292 votes, and Mary Lou Carolan, who garnered 3,226 votes. Ruggiero finished with 3,224 votes.
The case will be heard on Monday before Judge Sherri L. Eisenpress.
According to Fusco, the election has “been plagued by irregularities and inconsistent rulings.” He said that following the rolling canvass of all ballots, Ruggiero trailed Carolan by 12 votes, prompting a full manual recount before the results could be certified.
During the five-day manual recount of every ballot at the Orange County Board of Elections, Fusco said 10 ballots cast for Carolan were ruled invalid and removed from the count.
“We have preserved our objections to at least 22 additional ballots purportedly cast for Carolan that should be ruled invalid by the Supreme Court,” Fusco said. “Since Paul is now only trailing by two votes, we are optimistic that once our challenges are sustained, he will be declared the rightful winner of this election.”
Carolan has not taken office pending Monday’s hearing.
“This lawsuit against my client, whose victory was certified by the bipartisan Orange County Board of Elections, is frivolous and the law requires it to be dismissed,” Carolan’s attorney, Michael Treybich, said. “Since this lawsuit has so little merit, I can only imagine it was intended to intimidate my client, and that was clearly a miscalculation. Mary Lou Carolan looks forward to representing her constituents on the Town of Newburgh Board with professionalism and integrity, and she looks forward to her day in court.”
Judge Eisenpress could dismiss the case or schedule a hearing to review the ballots. Either side may appeal any ruling by the judge.
“I have been practicing election law for over a decade and have watched Albany make wholesale changes to the rules for counting votes in an effort to promote expediency over accuracy,” Fusco said. “Even with these controversial new recount laws in place, it is highly unusual to see such a change in the result following a recount. As such, given the irregularities in this election, if a winner cannot be determined with certainty, we have invited the court to declare a new free and fair election.”
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