Thursday, October 1, 2026
The New York State Education Department has ordered the Hempstead Union Free School District to hold a new election for one Board of Education trustee seat after annulling the results of the May 19 race, in the wake of allegations that district Clerk April Keys, who oversaw the election, mishandled absentee ballots and those mailed in early.
The revote is scheduled for Aug. 17, after state Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa directed the district to conduct a new election within 60 days. The district had petitioned Rosa to invalidate only the trustee election, leaving the voter-approved school budget and capital reserve proposition unchanged.
The district’s 51-page petition, filed on June 17, alleged multiple irregularities involving election materials, absentee ballots and election procedures that undermined the integrity of the trustee race. Ballots were discarded in a garbage bag that was recovered in a dumpster outside the district’s administrative building, according to an investigation by The Nassau County District Attorney Office.
The district stated in the petition that it was impossible to determine the exact number of cast ballots that were destroyed, because their remnants were collected in a large bag — as was the case with the envelopes that would otherwise help determine the number of applications that were mailed in.
“This appeal does not arise from a routine election challenge, a candidate’s dissatisfaction with the outcome, or isolated procedural missteps,” the petition stated. “Rather, it presents a disturbing pattern of conduct and systemic failures that strike at the core of the electoral process itself.”
On election night, incumbent Trustee Victor Pratt received 288 votes, defeating challengers Gwendolyn Jackson, Eugenia Girtman and Caprice Rines. District officials claimed that most of the votes comprised of absentee and early mailed-in ballots, because Pratt finished in third in the machine-vote tally.
District Superintendent Gary Rush said his primary concern throughout the state’s review was receiving a decision so the district could move forward.
“I just wanted the commissioner to make the decision as far as what is she is going to do. I didn’t want the district to remain in limbo,” Rush said. “That’s what my focus was. I just wanted a decision to be made so we’d know how to move forward, and once she made a decision, I was just kind of relieved.”
Rush declined to discuss the specifics of the ongoing investigation but said that the district was focused on ensuring that the Aug. 17 election is conducted properly.
“I think it’s important to make sure that we put some safeguards in place so that the process is done with fidelity,” Rush said, referring to following all required election procedures.
At a special meeting on June 25, the Board of Education appointed Alexander Hernandez as acting district clerk. The appointments were approved in a 3-2 vote, with Joylette Williams, LaMont Johnson, Jeferry Spencer voting in favor of the resolution and Pratt and Trustee Elise Nicholson voting against it.
Rush said that the district remains focused on preparing for the upcoming school year, despite the election controversy.
“Outside of this incident, this was a great year with the Board of Education,” he said. “I hate that this has to put such a dark mark on all the positives that took place.”
The district has not released details about next month’s voting, but Rush said that the voting process will follow the same procedures and polling hours used in the May election.
