In a correction, a Board of Elections representative says just 38 votes remain uncounted in Shelter Island’s election. That means, while a few more ballots may trickle in, the margins of 44 votes between Supervisor candidates and 43 between Town Council candidates are less likely to be overcome.
John Alberts, the Democratic Commissioner for the Suffolk County BOE, apologized in an email Friday for mischaracterizing results in an earlier communication. On Wednesday, he’d told the Gazette that “212 absentee ballots were not tallied yet.”
He said on Friday he’d mistakenly provided “the wrong figures” on Wednesday. Instead, the 212 ballots were already reflected in the unofficial tally. The Republican Commissioner, Betty Manzella, confirmed that 38 votes are outstanding, and any others that arrive will be counted after the November 14 deadline for regular absentee ballots (postmarked by Election Day) or the November 20 for the military.
Some 18 affidavit ballots have also been submitted, but voters sometimes use these for in-person voting when they’ve been issued an absentee ballot but were able to vote in person after all. Not yet clear is how many affidavit ballots may be from such voters.
Affidavit or provisional ballots may also be used for voters whose names are not listed in the poll book, whose addresses have changed but the BOE didn’t update the file, or whose names are on the list but their signatures are missing, among other reasons.
The official results are due to be certified on November 22, the BOE reps say.
The unofficial tallies in the contested races (in order of candidates’ appearance on the ballot) are:
- Town Supervisor
- Arnott Gordon Gooding (D) 729
- Amber F. Brach-Williams (R,C) 773
- Town Board (for two seats)
- Benjamin I. Dyett (D) 740
- Albert K. Dickson (D) 805
- Thomas M. Cronin (R, C) 697
- Arthur R. Williams (R, C) 473
Write-in candidates received 47 votes in the Supervisor race and 188 votes in the race for Town Council.
Uncontested local races
Congratulations, again, to the following candidates in uncontested local races who were endorsed for Town positions by voters:
- Town Clerk, Amber D. Wilson (R, C) with 947 votes
- Receiver of Taxes, Annmarie Seddio (D, R, C) with 1,403 votes
- Superintendent of Highways, Kenneth L. Lewis Jr. (D, R, C) with 1,400 votes
How we report on voting
The Gazette heard from Islanders about our reporting on the tally, including criticism for not using anecdotal results provided by candidates who cited BOE sources as the basis for their claims.
We stand by our decision only to report details provided to us by an official responsible for conveying the information.
Commission Alberts’ admission of providing mistaken information — after what he described as a “long” Election Day — demonstrates the problems of reporting on election tallies while votes are still being counted.
He might have just as easily given mistaken information to a candidate. We are grateful that he reached out to admit what we believe was an honest mistake and correct the record. We’re also glad that Commissioner Manzella took the time to confirm the information.
