A New York town election is at the center of controversy and mystery after an 83-year-old woman claimed she didn’t put her name on the ballot.
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The Long Island grandmother appeared on the Working Families Party line for the Huntington supervisor election. Critics believe her presence helped influence the election despite not winning.
So critics raised alarms about the election after Maria Delgado said she had no clue about the election. She told Newsday she had no idea she was running. The New York woman then hesitated. Meanwhile, a man at the residence disagreed with Delgado. He said she was aware she was a candidate.
“She ran, she lost, and I’m proud of her,” the unidentified man said. “We’re proud of her. No comment.”
New York Election Controversy
Meanwhile, the witness for the party petition hasn’t lived at his listed address for at least four years. Current residents had no clue about the party petition and never signed it. A Huntington Manor fire commissioner, who was also listed on the candidacy, also hasn’t come forward publicly.
“Unless the law requires the board to invalidate a petition, it is deemed valid and the candidates named are placed on the ballot,” Suffolk County Board of Election commissioners John Alberts and Erin McTiernan said in a joint statement.
GOP Supervisor Ed Smyth won over Democrat challenger Cooper Macco. Several votes went to Delgado in what critics are calling a deciding factor on the race.
“The truth is straightforward: members of the Working Families Party selected their own slate of candidates instead of the Democrats’ preferred choices,” Huntington Town GOP Chairman Thomas McNally said in defense to accusations. “The Democratic Party ran against them in June — and they lost. What we are seeing now is post-election spin and sour grapes.”
But New York’s Working Families Party is calling foul.
“Republicans have tricked voters and hijacked the Working Families ballot line to skew the election results,” said Ana Maria Archilla and Jasmine Gripper, co-directors for the state’s Working Families Party.
“What happened in Huntington is proof that Republicans have little respect for our democracy and for working people who stand to lose so much with their disastrous policies.”
However, the Board of Elections said no one raised any objections when Delgado’s petition was filed.