GOSHEN – An Orange County Supreme Court justice will not rule on the accuracy of the canvass of all ballots cast in November’s Town of Newburgh Council election until at least later this month.
Attorneys for both candidates vying for the seat — Republican Paul Ruggiero and Democrat Mary Lou Carolan — presented arguments before Justice Sherri Eisenpress on Monday. She reserved decision on the procedural issues and said she will issue a written opinion in approximately two weeks.
Unless the matter is dismissed, both sides are scheduled to return to court for a hearing on the merits of the case, including the certification of the election and a request to void 22 ballots, on February 2. Carolan currently leads Ruggiero, the incumbent, by two votes.
“Statute and case law support our position, so we are confident that we will ultimately prevail,” Ruggiero’s attorney, Adam Fusco, said.
Two town board seats were initially won by Mary McLymore, who received 3,292 votes, and Carolan, who garnered 3,226 votes. Ruggiero finished with 3,224 votes. 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.
Carolan’s attorney, Michael Treybich, maintains that Carolan is the winner of the election, per the Board of Elections, and should be sworn in.
“The Court is taking a measured approach, which is a good thing,” Treybich said. “The Court wants time to review our papers and arguments and to reach a decision on whether the case should be before her at all.”
In December, the court signed an order precluding Carolan from being seated as a member of the town board until the lawsuit is resolved. Fusco said that the ruling was unchanged during Monday’s proceedings. Carolan has already filed an oath of office and attended a swearing-in event, which Fusco described as ceremonial.
Carolan attended Monday night’s Town of Newburgh re-organization meeting and sat up front with other board members with an 8 x 10 folded piece of paper with her name written on it.
“Paul Ruggiero and I are proponents of fairness throughout the electoral process,” Fusco said. “His opponent’s attempt to assume his seat before the judicial challenge is resolved is a blatant attempt to usurp the office. This ignores the will of the voters and the authority of the court system. We must stop the steal.”
“If the town refuses to allow Ms. Carolan to take the seat that the bipartisan commissioners of elections certified that she won, and following her filing of her oath of office with the town clerk, we will have no choice but to bring an Article 78 proceeding against them, as there is no legal basis for their refusal to do so,” Treybich countered.
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