UNFAIR ADVANTAGE?

On Tuesday North Rockland Central School District school board challenger Ricky Sanchez  questioned why the names of incumbents Harry Lefevre and Robert Masiello appeared twice on the ballot, while challengers Sanchez and Dian Cifuni appeared only once. See the photo below.

The Rockland County Times discovered that the school election ballot, though arguably confusing, does meet the required standards according to NY Education Law 2032. The statute requires districts to list the names of the most recent incumbents as well as the length of the term in office.

The incumbents’ names do not actually appear on more than one ballot line as it might look at first glance. The top part of the ballot which lists the position, term and incumbent is not a ballot line to vote on. Unfortunately, the voting tabs directly beneath that top line caused considerable confusion according to the reports of several persons on the North Rockland Community Facebook page.

Those tabs indicate the candidate beneath not above.