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Fair Solages: task force will monitor 3rd L.D. voting
Carrié Solages, a Democrat who is challenging John Ciotti for Nassau County’s 3rd Legislative District seat, announced a new community-based task force on Oct. 26 to protect voters from intimidation and fraud at the district’s polls.
Solages made the announcement at a press conference at his campaign headquarters in Elmont, which was attended by several local and state leaders.
The event came nearly two weeks after a video surfaced online, showing Ciotti campaign volunteers hanging political signs on a fence next to his opponent’s law office, and one volunteer, Vinny Prisco, an employee of Sanitary District 6, making racially charged comments when questioned about the signs. Ciotti barred Prisco from his campaign following the incident, and denounced his actions.
According to Solages, the video was indicative of intimidation by the Ciotti and other Republican campaigns that has persisted for years, and the task force is an effort to prevent similar coercion of his campaign or local voters during Tuesday’s election. Several local residents, including civic leaders and attorneys, have been appointed to the task force, and will serve as poll monitors, watching for illegal behavior on Election Day.
According to Democratic Elections Commissioner William Biamonte, candidates are allowed two poll watchers per election district — there are more than 1,100 election districts in the county — to question activities and report incidents to the police or the Nassau County Board of Elections, as long as they don't interfere with the voting process. He added that poll watchers are permitted inside and outside of polling sites, and are allowed to challenge someone's right to vote, if they believe they've witnessed fraudulent voting acts. The 3rd L.D. includes Bellerose Terrace, Elmont, Franklin Square, West Hempstead, North Valley Stream, Valley Stream and South Floral Park.
“What happened, unfortunately, two Saturdays ago is not an isolated incident, it is part of a longstanding tradition of voter suppression, voter intimidation in this district,” Solages said of the video. “We must shed light on this topic, because at the end of the day, I want people on Nov. 8 to vote. This is a very precious right that we have living here in the United States of America, and it’s important that we all get out to vote, and that right should not be intimidated, or have people placed in fear in any way when it comes to expressing that right.”
