By JEFF MORRIS
Election Day at one local polling place was marred by a confrontation that resulted in multiple police agencies being involved amid allegations of trespassing.
The incident began when a local Democratic committee volunteer went to Increase Miller Elementary School early Tuesday morning in order to, she said, place a sign on the grounds reminding people to turn their ballots over to vote on Proposition One, the state equal rights amendment.
The woman said a school custodian and a poll worker came out and confronted her, telling her she was not allowed to place the sign on school grounds and that she had to leave. The woman contended that she had placed signs on school grounds on Election Day many times in previous years, without any problem, because it is allowed as long as it is not within 100 feet of the polling place, where no electioneering is permitted.
Shortly thereafter, someone — though it is unclear who — called the police.
Two Lewisboro officers responded, joined later by New York State Police. Though the Lewisboro officers agreed that what the woman was doing was perfectly legal, the challenge to her right to be there continued. She called local and county Democratic Party officials and an election watchdog group, who confirmed that she had a right to be there. Other Democratic committee members arrived and took up the argument with a higher ranking state police officer, who alleged that, according to what he was told, the district superintendent had ordered her off the grounds and said none of them were permitted to post signs, because it was private property. The implication was that those who were present and trying to present election information were trespassing and could be arrested if they did not leave.
According to three different sources, when Superintendent Raymond Blanch’s office was contacted, it turned out he was attending a conference, had no knowledge of anything that was taking place at Increase Miller, and had never issued a directive for anyone to leave school grounds. Shortly thereafter, the police left.
Before it was all over, the local police chief, the town supervisor, and other county officials had become involved, and all agreed there were no regulations in place that would prohibit the distribution or display of election information on the grounds of a school polling place on Election Day.
Ironically, the equal rights proposition on the back of the ballot that started the whole incident, passed by a wide margin.
The Recorder reached out to Blanch’s office for comment, and he issued this statement: “An issue arose with signs on Election Day and our staff followed board policy, as they have for decades. Our attorney clarified that during a federal election, the property is not our jurisdiction since it is not our election. If there is an issue with signs, it must be addressed by the Board of Elections. We shared that information with our staff.”